Digital storage element mechanical shock isolation arrangement in a host device and method

ABSTRACT

A digital storage arrangement is interfaceable with a host device which defines a cavity. The digital storage arrangement includes a housing receivable in the cavity, with a movement margin between the housing and host device, while a resilient support arrangement is provided for fixed engagement with the host device and for engaging the housing, while extending through the movement margin, to support the housing within the storage device cavity and to subject the storage device to a lesser degree of mechanical shock when the host device receives a given mechanical shock. The resilient support arrangement provides support by extending from each comer region of the housing to the host device. The support arrangement is molded through an opening defined by the housing in each comer region to extend outwardly to the host device. A bumper configuration is provided integral with the support arrangement and including a sealing arrangement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field ofarrangements for supporting Digital Storage Elements or other suchdevices which are sensitive to mechanical shock and, more particularly,to a highly advantageous resilient support arrangement for isolating aDigital Storage Element from the effects of a given mechanical shock.The present invention provides additional advantages beyond mechanicalshock isolation, as will be described.

[0002] As a class of devices, electromechanical digital storagearrangements are generally susceptible to mechanical shock. Hard diskdrives are especially susceptible to mechanical shock during operation.In fact, upon the receipt of an electromechanical shock having asufficient magnitude and frequency, it is well known that a hard diskdrive may experience a catastrophic failure. The prior art, in copingwith the potential effects of mechanical shock, has developed a numberof approaches, as will be described below.

[0003] As a first example of a prior art approach which attempts tomitigate the effects of mechanical shock on a hard drive, rubbergrommets or “doughnuts” are used in mounting arrangements. A firstimplementation of this approach is illustrated by FIG. 12 of U.S. Pat.No. 5,706,168, issued to Erler et al (hereinafter the '168 patent), aswell as an associated description which appears at column 11, lines15-25. A grommet or rubber doughnut is described as having a receivinggroove formed on its outer periphery. The grommet further defines acentral fastener receiving hole. The peripheral receiving groove is usedto capture each grommet within an aperture that is itself defined withina mounting bridge. The latter, in turn, supports a hard disk drive. Athreaded fastener passes through the fastener receiving hole defined bythe grommet and threadingly engages a boss. Accordingly, the mountingbridge is resiliently isolated by a plurality of rubber grommets so asto, in turn, isolate the hard disk drive.

[0004] One typical and relatively simplistic implementation of therubber grommet approach (not illustrated) does not rely on the use of amounting bridge. Four mounting posts are threaded directly into the harddisk drive. A rubber grommet is then received on the mounting post. Thehost device then captures each rubber grommet about its peripheralgroove, thereby providing for at least limited shock isolation.

[0005] Either implementation of the rubber grommet isolation approach isat least somewhat effective in providing mechanical shock isolation,however, it should be appreciated that a number of problems accompanyits use. For example, this approach may be considered as an anisotropicmounting arrangement. That is, shock attenuation properties vary withdirectional orientation. In particular, the shock attenuation propertiesin a direction oriented along the elongation axis of the mounting postare generally completely different from the isolation properties in aplane that is transverse to the mounting post and which bisects therubber doughnut. For a force oriented along the elongation axis, therubber doughnut is subjected to compression, extending uniformly aboutthe circumference of the rubber doughnut. For all other forceorientations, the rubber doughnut experiences at least some radialcompression of only a portion of its circumference. Where a receivedforce is orthogonal to a mounting post, the rubber doughnut experiencesonly partial radial compression. Hence, with variation of theorientation of received forces, an extremely complex multi-mode responseinteraction is exhibited by the rubber doughnuts ranging along aspectrum from uniform circumferential compression to partial radialcompression or some combination thereof. It is submitted that it isextremely difficult to control shock isolation properties with respectto these different responses, for example, with the intent of providingequal attenuation properties in every direction. The present inventionconsiders the rubber doughnut approach as being unacceptable in theinstance where precision control of mechanical shock response isrequired, as will be further described at an appropriate pointhereinafter.

[0006] Another approach taken by the prior art in dealing withmechanical shock is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,440 issued to Lin(hereinafter the '440 patent). The '440 patent further describes anexternal box for a hard disk drive that is electrically interfaceablewith a host computer, rather than a support arrangement for physicallyreceiving a storage component within a host device. The patent, however,describes a padded arrangement for housing the hard disk drive, as maybe seen in its FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein a plurality of soft protecting pads5, each of which includes a cylindrical configuration, apparentlysupport the hard disk drive within the external hard disk drive housing.A number of the protecting pads are mounted outward of a pair of fixingblocks which are themselves affixed along three edges of the hard diskdrive. The brief description within the patent appears to be devoid ofany further description as to how the remaining protecting pads areattached or held in place, if indeed, they are attached in place at all.Moreover, no description has been found by Applicants which would leadApplicants to believe that the outward or free ends of any of thesupport pads are fixedly attached to the interior surfaces of theexternal case in any way. While it is admitted that cushioning isprovided by the support arrangement of the '440 patent, at the sametime, it is submitted that the approach of this patent is problematicfor a number of reasons, as will be described immediately hereinafter.

[0007] Initially, it is submitted that the patent is devoid of anydescription with regard to implementing the mechanical shock protectionscheme in view of a given mechanical shock force that is anticipated tobe received by the external hard disk drive case. In this regard, itshould be appreciated that the response of any support arrangementvaries not only with the magnitude of the mechanical shock received andits directional orientation, but also with the frequency of the receivedshock. Still further complications are introduced since there is nodescription as to how many of the soft pads should be used at eachsurface of the hard disk drive, how the pads should be arranged or howto keep them in that arrangement. Further, no description is provided asto the material from which the soft pads are formed or for appropriatelyselecting suitable materials. In and by themselves, these complicationscreate significant concerns with regard to implementing a precisionshock protection arrangement.

[0008] With continuing reference to the '440 patent, the response ofthis arrangement is still further complicated by the outward,unconnected or free ends of the cylindrical shock pads. Since the freeend of each pad is apparently intended to be held in position only by aresilient bias force afforded by the pad itself compressed between thehard disk drive and external case, maintaining any position of the freeend of each pad is dependent upon the magnitude of the resilient biasforce, as well as friction between the free end of the pad and theinterior of the external case. When a shock of a sufficient magnitudeand frequency is received, it is submitted that the free ends of thepads will slip against the external case. Upon slipping in this manner,it is uncertain whether the pads will return to their originalpositions. Once the free ends of the pads are randomly displaced in sucha way, any predictability as to the response of this arrangement to agiven mechanical shock is certainly lost. Over time, the position of thehard disk drive may shift within the external hard drive case withshifting of the free ends of the soft pads in one direction or another.Of course, further unpredictability will be encountered where the padspermanently deform into curved configurations as a result of long-termfree end displacement.

[0009] Like the '168 patent, described above, providing a controlled orequal response along or about different axes is considered, at theleast, to be difficult using this arrangement. For example, the softpads must respond in different ways depending upon the directionalorientation of a received mechanical force. Where the latter is normalto one of the padded sides of the hard disk drive, those pads willcompressively receive the force. In contrast, a mechanical force havinga component directed across diagonally opposing comers of the hard diskdrive will cause bending of the pads. That is, none of the pads in theentire arrangement are solely compressed by such a diagonally orientedmechanical shock force. Thus, the pads may respond in a complexmultimode manner depending upon the directional orientation of areceived force. This complexity is itself problematic where it isdesired to implement a precision controlled shock response arrangement.

[0010] Still another prior art approach to the problem of dealing withmechanical shock forces received by a digital storage arrangement isexemplified by published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2001/0012175,by Williams et al., published on Aug. 9, 2001 (hereinafter Williams).The Williams publication describes a hard disk drive to which aplurality of elastomeric bumpers is attached. Each bumper includes ashank that is pressed into an aperture defined by the hard disk drive.The utility of these bumpers is described in the context of dropping thehard disk drive onto an external surface during shipment so as toproduce an impact load directly received by the hard disk drive. In thisregard, it should be appreciated that the Williams disclosure does notshow nor describe a bumper configuration for in situ or operational use,for example, within a host device. Moreover, the Williams disclosureappears to provide no description with regard to specific designconsiderations in view of the hard disk drive receiving a givenmechanical shock, for instance, directly onto one of the describedbumpers.

[0011] It is submitted that the present invention resolves the foregoingcomplications, problems and concerns in highly advantageous ways whileproviding still further advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] As will be described in more detail hereinafter, there isdisclosed herein a digital storage arrangement with a supportarrangement for use in a host device and method. The digital storagearrangement and host device, in combination, form an electronicassembly.

[0013] In one aspect of the present invention, a digital storagearrangement is electrically interfaceable with a host device whichdefines a storage device cavity. The digital storage arrangementincludes a housing receivable in the storage device cavity in a waywhich provides a movement margin between the housing and the hostdevice. Digital storage means, susceptible to a given mechanical shock,at least to a limited extent, is located within the housing. A flexibleelectrical interconnection arrangement is included for providingelectrical communication between the digital storage means and the hostdevice across the movement margin while a resilient support arrangementis provided for fixed engagement with the host device and for engagingthe housing, while extending through the movement margin, to support thehousing within the storage device cavity in a way which subjects thedigital storage means to a lesser degree of mechanical shock when thehost device receives the given mechanical shock. In one feature, thehousing includes a peripheral sidewall which defines a plurality ofcomer regions and the resilient support arrangement provides support byextending from each comer region to the host device. In another feature,the support arrangement is molded through an opening defined by thehousing in each comer region to extend outwardly to the host device. Instill another feature, a portion of the resilient support arrangementextends from within the peripheral sidewall to form a bumperconfiguration that moves with the housing such that the bumperconfiguration comes into contact with the host device prior to directcontact between the housing and the host device with movement of thehousing relative to the host device. In yet another feature, the supportmembers and the movement margin are cooperatively configured forpermitting mechanically induced movement of the housing relative to thehost device in six degrees of freedom to provide a controlled responsefor each one of six degrees of freedom. In a related feature, movementis constrained so that contact between the housing and the host deviceis avoided for the given shock force.

[0014] In another aspect of the present invention, a digital storagearrangement is interfaceable with a host device. The digital storagearrangement includes housing including a cover portion and a baseportion selectively attachable with one another. At least the coverportion is formed from a sheet material which defines a plurality ofthrough-holes and which includes an outer surface. Digital storage meansis provided for location within the housing. A resilient arrangementincludes a gasket portion that is integrally formed therewith for use insealing attached ones of the cover portion and the base portion to oneanother to seal the digital storage means within the housing. Theresilient arrangement extends through each through-hole outwardly fromthe outer surface to form a resilient bumper outward of eachthrough-hole so as to provide a plurality of resilient bumpers. Aflexible electrical interface arrangement electrically connects thestorage device and the digital storage means through the housing and asupport arrangement supports the housing within the host device.

[0015] In still another aspect of the present invention, a digitalstorage arrangement is interfaceable with a host device. The digitalstorage arrangement includes a housing including a cover portion and abase portion that are selectively attachable with one another using alatching arrangement forming part of the cover portion and part of thebase portion. Digital storage means is provided for location within thehousing. A sealing arrangement is used for sealing the digital storagemeans within the housing between attached ones of the base portion andcover portion. A flexible electrical interface arrangement is configuredfor providing electrical communication between the storage device andthe digital storage means through the housing. A support arrangementsupports the housing within the host device. In one feature, the coverportion is formed from a sheet material and the latching arms arestamped as an integral portion of the sheet material.

[0016] In yet another aspect of the present invention, a resilientarrangement is configured for use in a digital storage arrangement,including digital storage means that is electrically interfaceable witha host device and that is susceptible to a given mechanical shock. Thedigital storage arrangement includes a housing having a base portion anda cover portion that are selectively attachable with one another, whilethe host device defines a storage device cavity. The resilientarrangement includes a gasket portion that is integrally formed to sealattached ones of the cover portion and the base portion to one anotherfor sealing the digital storage means within the housing. A supportportion, that is integrally formed as part of the resilient arrangement,extends outwardly from the housing, and is configured for engagementwith the host device to support the housing within the storage devicecavity in a way which subjects the digital storage means to a lesserdegree of mechanical shock when the host device receives the givenmechanical shock.

[0017] In a further aspect of the present invention, a method isdescribed for producing a resilient arrangement for use in a digitalstorage arrangement including digital storage means that is electricallyinterfaceable with a host device and that is susceptible to a givenmechanical shock. The digital storage arrangement includes a housinghaving a base portion and a cover portion that are selectivelyattachable with one another while the host device defines a storagedevice cavity. The method includes the step of integrally forming theresilient arrangement to include (i) a gasket portion for sealingattached ones of the cover portion and the base portion to one anotherthereby sealing the digital storage means within the housing and (ii) asupport portion for extending outwardly from the housing and configuredfor engagement with the host device to support the housing within thestorage device cavity in a way which subjects the digital storage meansto a lesser degree of mechanical shock when the host device receives thegiven mechanical shock.

[0018] In a continuing aspect of the present invention, a resilientarrangement is disclosed for use in a digital storage arrangementincluding digital storage means. The digital storage arrangementincludes a housing having a base portion and a cover portion, eachhaving outer surfaces, such that the base and cover portions areselectively attachable with one another. The resilient arrangementincludes a gasket portion for use in sealing attached ones of the coverportion and the base portion to one another thereby sealing the digitalstorage means within the housing. A bumper portion is included that isintegrally formed along with the gasket portion and that extendsoutwardly at least beyond one of the outer surfaces to form a pluralityof resilient bumpers.

[0019] In another aspect of the present invention, a resilientarrangement is described for use in a digital storage arrangement whichitself includes digital storage means. The digital storage arrangementfurther includes a housing having a base portion and a cover portionsuch that the base and cover portions are selectively attachable withone another. The resilient arrangement includes a sealing portionreceived in one of the base portion and the cover portion and isconfigured for engaging the other one of the base portion and the coverportion to seal the digital storage means within the housing. A biasingportion forms another part of the resilient arrangement, separate fromthe sealing portion, but formed integrally therewith, for resilientlybiasing engaged ones of the cover and base portion away from oneanother.

[0020] In still another aspect of the present invention, a digitalstorage configuration includes a housing including a cover portion and abase portion configured for cooperatively defining a housing cavity.Digital storage means is supported within the housing cavity. Arecirculation filter is provided for filtering air within the housingcavity. An arrangement is used that is integrally formed from aresilient material (i) for sealing the cover portion against the baseportion and (ii) for at least partially supporting the recirculationfilter within the housing cavity. In one feature, the arrangementfurther serves to define, at least partially, a filter passage fordirecting air through the recirculation filter.

[0021] In yet another aspect of the present invention, a digital storagearrangement is electrically interfaceable with a host device. Thedigital storage arrangement includes digital storage means that issusceptible to a mechanical shock, at least to a limited extent. A basearrangement supports the digital storage means. A cover arrangement isattached to the base arrangement for housing the digital storage meanswithin a cavity that is cooperatively defined by attached ones of thebase arrangement and the cover arrangement in a way which permitsmovement of the base arrangement relative to the cover arrangement andthe cover arrangement is configured for engagement by the host devicesuch that the base arrangement, and digital storage means supportedthereby, are at least partially isolated from mechanical shock receivedby the host device by movement of the base arrangement relative to thecover arrangement. In one feature, a resilient arrangement having adamping portion is positioned between the base arrangement and the coverarrangement such that a sufficient amount of relative movement betweenthe base arrangement and the cover arrangement compresses the dampingportion to isolate the base arrangement and digital storage meanssupported thereby from the mechanical shock.

[0022] In a continuing aspect of the present invention, a digitalstorage arrangement, which is electrically interfaceable with a hostdevice and which includes digital storage means that is susceptible to amechanical shock, at least to a limited extent, is produced bysupporting the digital storage means using a base arrangement; attachingthe base arrangement to a cover arrangement to position the digitalstorage means within a cavity that is cooperatively defined by theattached base arrangement and cover arrangement in a way which permitsmovement of the base arrangement relative to the cover arrangement; andconfiguring the cover arrangement for engaging the host device such thatthe base arrangement and the digital storage means supported thereby areat least partially isolated from the mechanical shock received by thehost device by movement of the base arrangement relative to the coverarrangement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The present invention may be understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawingsbriefly described below.

[0024]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view, in perspective, of the DigitalStorage Element of the present invention, show here to illustratedetails of its construction including a highly advantageous resilientsupport arrangement and integral bumper arrangement.

[0025]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the Digital Storage Element of FIG. 1,shown here to illustrate further details of its structure.

[0026]FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the Digital Storage Element ofFIGS. 1 and 2, shown installed within a host device to illustratedetails of the installation including the manner in which the resilientsupport arrangement engages the host device.

[0027]FIG. 4 is an enlarged, perspective view of one comer of theDigital Storage Element of the present invention, shown here toillustrate details of one of the resilient support arms or shock mounts,forming part of the resilient support arrangement, and showing furtherdetails with regard to the manner in which the support arm is engaged bythe host device.

[0028]FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view, in perspective, of a cover portionwhich forms part of the housing of the digital Storage Element of thepresent invention, shown here to illustrate one potential implementationof the cover portion including its comer configurations, aperturesdefined by the cover portion and latching members.

[0029]FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view, in perspective, of the coverportion of FIG. 5 including a resilient arrangement which is molded tothe cover portion for use in resiliently supporting the Digital StorageElement, for sealing the Digital Storage Element and for protecting theDigital Storage Element from contact with the host device using a bumperconfiguration.

[0030]FIG. 7a is an enlarged, partial view, in perspective, of one comerof the cover portion of FIG. 6, shown here to illustrate details of aresilient arrangement including a comer portion from which a resilientsupport arm extends.

[0031]FIG. 7b is an diagrammatic, partial view, in perspective ofanother comer of the cover portion of FIG. 6, show here to illustratedetails of an integrally formed recirculation filter supportarrangement, which itself forms a portion of the highly advantageousresilient arrangement of the present invention.

[0032]FIG. 7c is a diagrammatic enlarged view of a portion of theillustration of FIG. 7b, shown here to illustrate details of the highlyadvantageous recirculation support arrangement of the present invention.

[0033]FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic, enlarged view, in perspective, of theDigital Storage Element of the present invention, shown here toillustrate the installation of a base portion within the cover portion.A bottom-side bumper configuration is further illustrated that isintegrally formed with the comer portions of the resilient arrangement.

[0034]FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view, in perspective, of the base portionof the Digital Storage Element, shown here to illustrate details withregard to the components that are supported by the base portion and toillustrate the configuration of a peripheral sealing rim and associatedlatching member recesses for use in attaching the base portion to thecover portion.

[0035]FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic, enlarged cross-sectional view of aperipheral comer region of the cover portion, taken along a line 10-10in FIG. 7, shown here to illustrate details of a gasket portion of theresilient arrangement, including a peripheral sealing collar or lip anda resilient biasing pedestal that is shown having a conicalconfiguration. A latching member is further illustrated for purposes ofengaging one of the latching recesses shown in FIG. 9.

[0036]FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic, enlarged cross-sectional view of thecomer region of the cover portion, as show in FIG. 10 and furtherillustrating engagement of the base portion with the cover portion,showing cooperation between the latching member and latching recess aswell as the functionality of the biasing pedestal which operatesindependently of the peripheral sealing collar.

[0037]FIG. 12 is the diagrammatic, enlarged cross-sectional view of thecomer region of the cover portion, as shown in FIG. 11, engaged with thebase portion, showing movement of the cover portion relative to the baseportion which compresses the biasing pedestal.

[0038]FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic enlarged view, in perspective, of onecomer of the cover portion of the Digital Storage Element, shown here toillustrate an alternative embodiment of the shock mounting arm orresilient support arm of the present invention.

[0039]FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic, enlarged view, in perspective, of onecomer of the cover portion of the Digital storage Element of the presentinvention, showing the outside of the comer and illustrating details ofan alternative latch member for use in attaching the cover portion to abase portion.

[0040]FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic, enlarged view, in perspective, of thecomer of the cover portion shown in FIG. 14, but showing the interior ofthe cover portion at this comer for purposes of illustrating furtherdetails of the alternative latch member.

[0041]FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic, enlarged cross-sectional view, takengenerally along a line 16-16 in FIG. 14, illustrating details withrespect to a highly advantageous and integrally formed comer bumper thatis produced in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0042] Turning now to the figures wherein like components are designatedby like reference numbers throughout the various figures, attention isimmediately directed to FIGS. 1 and 2 which illustrate a Digital StorageElement produced in accordance with the present invention and generallyindicated by the reference numeral 10. Digital Storage Element 10includes a housing 12, a digital storage device 14 and a flexibleelectrical interface connector 16 having a connection end 18 forelectrically connecting digital storage device 14 with a host device tobe described in further detail hereinafter. It is noted that electricalinterface connector 16 includes features which enhance its flexibilitywith relative movement of the digital Storage Element in any potentialdirection. In the present example, a plurality of elongated slots 19 areprovided for this purpose.

[0043] Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, digital storage device 14 isdiagrammatically illustrated and may comprise any suitable form ofstorage which is susceptible to mechanical shock such as, for example,hard disk drives, electro-optical drives or any other form of suchdevice yet to be developed. The present invention is particularly usefulwith regard to hard disk drives since such drives are particularlysusceptible to mechanical shock, especially during data accessoperations. It should be appreciated that Digital Storage Element 10 isconfigured for use within a host device which defines a cavity forreceiving the Digital Storage Element. The latter includes a resilientarrangement 20 having a plurality of support arms 22 that extendoutwardly from each comer of the digital storage arrangement. While ahousing having four comers is illustrated, it should be appreciated thatany suitable form may used for the housing and that corners are not arequirement. In this particular example, the comer regions are beveledfor the purpose of providing sufficient volume in which to contain thesupport arms while, at the same time, maintaining a relatively smallsurrounding clearance or movement margin between the Digital StorageElement and the host device. Any housing may be configured in thismanner so as to accommodate the support arms. The illustrated supportarms, which may also be referred to as shock mounts, are best seen inthe perspective view of FIG. 1 and are specifically configured to engagea host device in a way which resiliently supports the Digital StorageElement within the host device, as will be described in further detailat appropriate points hereinafter.

[0044] Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4 in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2, ahost device is diagrammatically illustrated and indicated by thereference number 30. Referring specifically to FIG. 3, host device 30includes a pair of opposing walls 32 and 34 which define a storagedevice receiving cavity 36 therebetween that is configured for housingDigital Storage Element 10. FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial view of onecomer of Digital Storage Element 10 which illustrates details of theconfiguration of one of support arms 22. Each support arm includes anoutwardly extending beam portion 38 having a rectangular cross-section.Beam portion 38 extends to a support column 40, which is cylindrical inconfiguration, and is integrally formed with beam portion 38. Eachsupport column defines an elongation axis 42 that is generally normal toupper and lower major surfaces 44 a and 44 b, respectively, of DigitalStorage Element 10 at least when the support arm is in a relaxed state.Each support arm defines a pair of opposing, upper and lower supportsurfaces that are indicated by the reference numbers 46 and 48,respectively. It is noted that the terms “upper” and “lower” are usedthroughout this disclosure for descriptive purposes only and are in noway intended to be limiting. In the present example, support surfaces 46and 48 include a convex, cupped, inverse-conical or self-centeringconfiguration; any functionally equivalent shape is considered asinterchangeable in this capacity. Moreover, surfaces 46 and 48 may bepierced for retention purposes or retained in any other suitable manner.As will be seen, Digital Storage Element 10 may be supported in aresilient manner by biasing these opposing support surfaces toward oneanother so as to compress support column 40 therebetween. It is to beunderstood that the configuration of the support arms may be modified inany suitable manner and that such modifications are considered as beingwithin the scope of the appended claims so long as the teachings hereinare applied. For example, the specific, illustrated and describedgeometric shapes such as the cylindrical form of support column 40 andthe rectangular form of beam 38 are shown for descriptive purposes onlyand are not required. Suitable materials from which the support arms maybe formed include, but are not limited to a thermoplastic elastomer anda thermosetting elastomer such as, for example, rubber and fluorocarbonelastomer. Any suitable material yet to be developed may also beutilized in view of this description. Generally, the support arms areformed by the process of molding including those currently known moldingprocesses such as, for example, injection molding and pot transfermolding. Any suitable molding process that is yet to be developed islikewise applicable. Specific details with regard to designconsiderations in the implementation of the support arms will also beset forth below.

[0045] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, column ends 40 of the support armscooperate with the host device to resiliently support Digital StorageElement 10 in a highly advantageous way. Specifically, with reference toFIG. 3, upper opposing wall 32, as well as lower opposing wall 34 ofhost device 30 each support a set of four mounting posts or pedestals 50that are configured to engage opposing upper and lower support surfaces46 and 48 of column ends 40 of the support arms. FIG. 4 is a partialperspective view of one corner of Digital Storage Element 10 showingdetails of one of support arms 22 and an opposing pair of mountingpedestals that are indicated by the reference numbers 50 a and 50 b andwhich are moveable towards one another to engage the support column ofthe illustrated support arm. In this regard, the upper and lower sets ofmounting pedestals supported by upper opposing wall 32 and loweropposing wall 34, respectively, are themselves supported in a mannerwhich provides for installation of the Digital Storage Element betweenthe opposing sets of mounting pedestals. For example, the housing of ahost device may include one of opposing walls 32 or 34 as part of itsexternal case having one set of mounting pedestals attached thereto. Theother one of the opposing walls may be provided in the form of amounting plate which itself supports the other set of mountingpedestals. Further, a set of threaded bosses 52 may also be mountedonto, for example, lower opposing wall 34. These bosses include a lengthwhich provides a selected separation distance between the opposing setsof mounting pedestals so as to compress support column 40 of eachsupport arm by an appropriate amount in an installed condition.Installation of the Storage Element is accomplished by positioning thesupport arms onto the lower set of pedestals 50 and then positioning theupper set of mounting pedestals onto the support arms using a mountingplate serving as upper opposing wall 32. Mounting pedestals 50 include aconical, self-centering end configuration, seen in FIG. 4, for engagingthe support surfaces of shock mount column 40. Thereafter, a set offasteners 54 may be used to threadingly engage the bosses so as to affixthe mounting plate thereto. As the fasteners engage the bosses, columnends 40 of the support arms are compressed and thereby captured betweenopposing ones of the mounting pedestals, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Aswill be appreciated, the self-centering support configuration at theends of support columns 40 of the shock mount arms cooperate with theself-centering configuration of mounting pedestals 50 to retain thecolumn ends of the support arms at least over a contemplated range ofmechanical shock force.

[0046] Having described the structure of the Digital Storage Element ofthe present invention, including its integral resilient supportarrangement, it is now appropriate to discuss design details which areof importance with regard to mechanical shock attenuation. For animpulse of very short duration (i.e. a mechanical shock of highfrequency), a significant portion of the applied load or inputmechanical shock is resisted by the inertia and the stiffness of theStorage element. The shock response is not governed by the shockamplitude only. The shock input duration or frequency plays an importantrole in the structure response and will be explained below.

[0047] Damping is of considerably less importance in controlling themaximum response of a structure to impulsive (shock) loads while it isof more importance for periodic and harmonic loads such as, for example,vibrations. Stated in a slightly different way, the maximum response toan impulsive load is reached in a very short time, before the dampingforces can absorb significant energy from the structure. In contrast,during non-shock vibration, system damping properties merit relativelycareful consideration.

[0048] Shock attenuation, as well as amplification, depends on a ratiobetween the frequency of the input shock and a natural frequency of thesystem. Over a certain range of this frequency ratio, shock movementamplitude of the Digital storage Element is attenuated, while outsidethis range, the shock movement amplitude may be amplified orunattenuated. Therefore, for a given range of shock frequencies, theresilient support system of the present invention may be designed suchthat the ratio between the system natural frequency and the shockfrequency is within the attenuation range. With regard to vibration, itshould be noted that the vibration transmissibility is a function of aratio between the vibration frequency and the resilient support system'snatural frequency.

[0049] The natural frequency of the resilient support system depends notonly on its mass but also on its stiffness (or flexibility). Thestiffness (or flexibility) of the system depends on a number of factorsincluding its resilient support geometry and its resilient supportmaterial properties such as, for example, Young's moduli (generallyreferred to as “moduli” or “modulus”) and densities of variouscomponents.

[0050] In accordance with the present invention, the Digital StorageElement is resiliently suspended within the host device, and connectedthereto by attachments in the form of its support arms. In doing so, theflexibility or stiffness of the resilient support system is mainlygoverned by the geometry, size, and modulus of the support arms. In thisway, the natural frequencies of the system may be manipulated bychanging the support arm geometry and/or its component material withoutaffecting the general internal configuration of the digital storagedevice itself. It should be appreciated that the support arms are undermechanical stress even when the host device is in a static state underthe influence of gravity. Upon the receipt of a mechanical shock by thehost device, movement of the Digital Storage Element relative to thehost device places dynamic mechanical stress on the resilient supportarms.

[0051] With regard to the resilient support arrangement, it should beappreciated that the energy absorbed by each component part of thesystem during a mechanical shock event is proportional to thedeformation and/or displacement of that individual part. In providingflexible support arm attachments, these latter elements deform to permitthe Digital Storage Element to move or deflect in all six degrees offreedom within the confines of the host device. In view of the teachingsherein, the resilient support arm arrangement may be designed to providea controlled response to a given shock force within a given movementmargin around the Digital Storage Element with respect to threeorthogonally arranged axes (i.e., x,y,z) such that movement of theDigital Storage Element does not exceed constraints that are imposed bythe available movement margin in six degrees of freedom. That is,movement of the Digital Storage Element is constrained so as to avoidcontacting the host device for the given force because the supportmembers and the movement margin are cooperatively configured forpermitting mechanically induced movement of the housing relative to thehost device in six degrees of freedom, thereby providing a predeterminedor controlled degree of attenuation for each one of the six degrees offreedom. In this regard, it should be appreciated that mechanical forceswill generally induce components of movement in all six degrees offreedom. Because the Digital Storage Element is stiff in comparison tothe support arms, movement of the Digital Storage Element may becharacterized, at least initially, as rigid body motion. During shockinduced movement, a major portion of input energy is absorbed by theattachment deformation of the support arms accompanied by rigid bodymotion components of the Storage Element. A lesser degree of inputenergy is therefore transferred to the components within the DigitalStorage Element (i.e. the digital storage device housed therein). If thesupport arm attachments are made more stiff, the internal components ofthe Digital Storage Element experience correspondingly greater levels oftransferred shock.

[0052] Further considering materials for use in forming the shock mountsof the present invention, it is to be understood that changes in theresponse of candidate materials with temperature is of substantialimportance and may be the most limiting factor. Stated in a slightlydifferent way, changes in the properties of interest (shock response aswell as vibration damping) are generally most dynamic against changes intemperature. Of course, any number of additional factors should beconsidered such as, for example, the influence of aging on theproperties of interest.

[0053] With regard to specific design techniques used in theimplementation of the resilient support arrangement of the DigitalStorage Element, it should be appreciated that, due to the relativecomplexity and the high non-linearity of the problem, Finite Elementmethods are typically used in an overall iterative process.Specifically, a simplified model is initially developed wherein the hostdevice and the Digital Storage Element include rigid or stiff surfaceswhich may be modeled with beams and/or shell elements. The DigitalStorage Element is contained within the cavity defined inside the host,and connected to the host at the comer regions using flexibleattachments (i.e., representing the support arms).

[0054] The flexible comer attachments may, at least initially, bemodeled using beam elements including a sufficient number of elements soas to represent several mode shapes seen in the bending and deformationof the flexible support arms. It is noted that, in this problem, onereason for positioning the support arms at the comer regions resides inmaintaining a high level of control over movement of the Digital StorageElement with respect to the host device since the movement marginbetween these two bodies is intended to be very small, for example, onthe order of 0.5 mm surrounding the Digital Storage Element. Where thespace between the two bodies is relatively larger, the support arms aremore readily positioned away from the comer regions. Of course, havingaccomplished an initial analysis, further iterations may be directed tosupport arrangements that are not specifically attached at the comerregions. For example, support members are contemplated in the form ofelastic webs which may be attached along the lengthwise edges of theDigital Storage Element for additional connection to the host device.All of these modifications are considered to be within the scope of thepresent invention so long as resilient support is accomplished throughthe application of the teachings herein.

[0055] As part of this analysis, a maximum static deflection of thesupport arms is determined including the influence of the weight of theStorage Element. The host device is considered as being in a staticcondition. The maximum static deflection must be less than or equal tothe allowable deflection, as defined by the cavity in which the DigitalStorage Element is received. That is, the allowable deflection is equalto or less than the space between the host device and the DigitalStorage Element on any one side of the Digital Storage Element. A lowmodulus material should be selected for use in forming the shock mounts.The selected material should also include an acceptable damping propertyfor purposes of vibration damping. If the maximum static deflectionexceeds the allowable deflection, the support arm stiffness must beincreased. A minimum stiffness is found when the Digital Storage Elementstatic deflection is equal to the defined allowable deflection.

[0056] Support arm stiffness, denoted as K_(a), is a function of E, L,and I or R where

[0057] E=Young's modulus

[0058] L=length of the support arm

[0059] B=width of the support arm

[0060] H=height of the support arm

[0061] I=moment of inertia˜cross section˜(B H³)/12 for support arm withrectangular cross section

[0062] R=radius of cross section (for support arm with circular crosssection)

[0063] Accordingly, for a support arm having a rectangular crosssection, the support arm stiffness is:

K _(a) ˜EI/L ³  (1)

[0064] for a support arm having a circular cross section, the supportarm stiffness is:

K _(a) ˜ER ⁴ /L ³  (2)

[0065] It is important to understand that K_(a) is generally moreresponsive to changes in geometry than to changes in the material(s)from which the support arm is formed.

[0066] Modal analysis is now performed to obtain the mode shapes and thefrequencies of at least the first few modes. To that end, the naturalfrequencies f_(n) and the angular velocities ω_(n), of the overallsupport system are functions of support system parameters K and M where:

f _(n)˜ω_(n)˜(K/M)^(0.5)  (3)

[0067] in which:

[0068] K=stiffness of the overall support system or arrangement which inthis case is mainly governed by the support stiffness K_(a), and

[0069] M=mass of the digital storage plus at least a suspended portionof the mass of the support arms.

[0070] Typically, the first few modes are the low bending modes of theattachments, which allow rigid body translations and rigid bodyrotations of the Digital Storage Element. These natural frequencies arethen compared with the shock frequencies, as follows.

[0071] Let β be a ratio between the shock and the natural frequencies:

β=ω_(i)/ω_(n=) f _(j) /f _(n)  (4)

[0072] In which ω_(i), f_(i) are the input shock angular velocity andfrequency, respectively, and ω_(n), f_(n) are the natural angularvelocity and frequency.

[0073] For the purpose of optimizing shock attenuation, a large value ofβ is desired which must be greater than one. It is generally desiredthat β>2, and, more preferably, β>4. It is noted that the output/inputratio of the displacement amplitudes and the output/input ratio of theacceleration amplitudes decrease as the value of β increases. Theoutput/input ratio of the displacement amplitudes, however, decreasesmore slowly than the output/input ratio of the acceleration amplitudes.

[0074] A larger value of β results in correspondingly smaller values ofω_(n), and f_(n), (or larger values for ω_(j) and f_(i), but generallythese latter input parameters are defined and can not be changed in agiven design). Therefore, a lower value for K_(a) is desired. Asevidenced by equations 1 and 2 above, the most expedient ways todecrease K_(a) are by increasing the attachment length, decreasing itscross section, and/or manipulating the geometry configuration of theattachment. It should be appreciated that changing attachment lengthand/or any other aspect of geometric configuration may mandate somemanipulation/change of the Digital Storage Element comer shape.

[0075] When the input shock frequency range is very large, difficultiesmay be introduced with regard to attenuating the lower portion of thisshock frequency range. In such a situation, generally, the shockattenuation effort should be concentrated on the higher portion of theshock frequency range, at least for the reason that the amplitude ofshock movement is generally higher than the amplitude of shock movementproduced in the lower portion of the shock frequency range. In thisregard, resilient bumpers may be used to facilitate mitigation ofmechanical shock having components which will occur in the lower portionof the shock frequency range. Such bumpers may be integrated with theattachments, the cover arrangement, and/or the base arrangement of thedigital storage, as will be described in further detail below. For themoment, it is worthwhile to mention that the use of bumpers reduces theallowable movement margin that is available between the host and theDigital Storage Element. For this reason, it is desirable to hold theprojecting height of the bumpers to a minimum, especially in theinstance where a relatively small movement margin is also desired.

[0076] In view of the foregoing descriptions, with sufficient iteration,an appropriate attachment stiffness K_(a) may be identified so as toattenuate most, if not all of a specified input shock frequency range.Having identified this attachment stiffness, a more detailed FiniteElement model may then be formulated in order to accomplish stillfurther analysis and design optimization.

[0077] Turning now to FIG. 5, attention is now directed to specificdetails with regard to the construction of housing 12, initially shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 5 illustrates a cover portion 60, which formspart of the housing, and is configured to be received on a base portionthat is yet to be described. The cover portion of the housing is shownin one implementation that is formed using a sheet material such as, forexample, stainless steel. Generally, cover portion 60 is formed bystamping, however, the present invention contemplates the use of anysuitable material, accompanied by any suitable fabrication technique.For example, the cover portion may be machined. Cover portion 60includes a plurality of beveled comer regions 62 each of which defines acomer region through-opening 64. A major side 66 of cover portion 60defines a first plurality of bumper apertures 68 while a peripheralsidewall 70 extends generally transverse to major side 66 and isintegral therewith to define a second plurality of bumper apertures 72.While a pair of apertures is shown, it should be appreciated that anysuitable number and/or shape of such apertures may be used. For example,an elongated slot may be used. As will be further described, where apair of apertures 72 is used, the bumper may be molded continuouslybetween the apertures proximate to the exterior surface of the coverportion. It is noted for purposes of clarity that, in the view of FIG.5, peripheral sidewall 70 extends upwardly. Further, peripheral sidewall70 defines a plurality of raised latching members 74, as will be furtherdescribed at an appropriate point hereinafter.

[0078] Referring to FIG. 6 in conjunction with FIG. 5, previouslymentioned resilient support arrangement 20 is supported within coverportion 60 in a highly advantageous way. Specifically, the resilientsupport arrangement is molded, in place, within the cover portion so asto form four functional subassemblies including: (i) a gasket portion82; (ii) a support arm portion 84, including previously describedsupport arms 22; (iii) a bumper portion 86 (only partially shown); and arecirculation filter holder. Descriptions of each of these subassemblieswill be taken up immediately hereinafter.

[0079] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, gasket portion 82 is moldedinto a peripheral comer region of the cover portion so as to surroundmajor side 66. FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 illustrate first plurality of bumperapertures 68 defined by major side 66. This first plurality of bumperapertures is positioned within the comer region of the peripheral coverportion such that the gasket portion is molded into and extendsoutwardly through these bumper apertures. In doing so, that portion ofthe resilient support arrangement which extends into and through thebumper apertures serves a dual purpose. First, the gasket portion is atleast partially held in position within the cover portion. Second, afirst plurality of bumpers 90 (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) is formed so as toextend outwardly from major side 66 of cover portion 60. These bumpersare highly advantageous in extending completely about the periphery ofmajor side 66. In this regard, it should be appreciated that, whilethese bumpers are highly useful in protecting Digital Storage Element 10from mechanical shock that is incurred, for example, as a result ofdropping the Digital Storage Element in transit, these bumpers arespecifically configured for protecting the Digital Storage Element frommechanical shock in situ. That is, first plurality of bumpers 90, likethose yet to be described, are designed to provide an additional measureof protection for the Digital Storage Element when a mechanical shock isreceived by a host device so as to cause the Digital Storage Element tomove in a way which would otherwise bring housing 12 into direct contactwith the host device. As mentioned previously, since these bumpersextend outwardly from the Digital Storage Element, they themselves limitthe available movement margin which is defined around the DigitalStorage Element within the host device. Therefore, first plurality ofbumpers 90, like other bumpers yet to be described, extend outwardlybeyond the overall outline of the Digital Storage Element only slightlyfor purposes of maximizing the available movement margin that is presentaround the digital storage arrangement. In the present example, theheight of the bumpers is contemplated as extending beyond the outline ofthe Digital Storage Element by approximately 0.5 mm.

[0080] Referring to FIGS. 5 through 7a, attention is now directed tofurther details with regard to the design of the resilient arrangementof the present invention including gasket portion 82 and bumper portion86. It should be appreciated that these various subassemblies aredescribed in a somewhat intermingled manner for the reason that all ofthe subassemblies are integrally formed. Further, certain portions ofthe resilient arrangement may functionally fall within more than one ofthe subassemblies. For example, referring to FIG. 7a, resilientarrangement 20 includes a corner portion 100 which is shown in apartial, enlarged view of one comer of cover portion 60. Comer portion100 extends integrally from gasket portion 82 into the comer region ofthe cover portion, proximate to and along a margin of peripheralsidewall 70. At the same time, corner portion 100 is molded through oneof comer region through-openings 64 (see FIG. 5) to form outwardlyextending support arm 22, having its previously described configuration.This arrangement is considered as being highly advantageous since comerportion 100 is formed having a configuration and overall contact areawith the corner region so as to provide a solid foundation for supportarm 22. In providing a further advantage, a second plurality of sidewallbumpers 110, seen in FIG. 6 and forming part of bumper portion 86, aremolded from comer portion 100 through second plurality of bumperapertures 72, seen in FIG. 5, to serve in a dual capacity. First, thesecond plurality of bumpers extends outwardly, beyond the outline of theDigital Storage Element, to functionally serve as bumpers while, second,the second plurality of bumpers further serves to anchor the comerportion so as to assist in providing a foundation for support arm 22.While sidewall bumpers are illustrated as being formed proximate to thecomer region of cover portion 60 and integral with comer portion 100 ofthe resilient arrangement, it is to be understood that the presentinvention contemplates the formation of sidewall bumpers around theentire periphery of the sidewall, which may readily be formed integrallywith gasket portion 82.

[0081] Continuing with a description of the various subassemblies whichform portions of resilient arrangement 20, reference is now taken toFIGS. 7a and 8. As illustrated in FIG. 7a, corner portion 100 defines anupper surface 110 which further defines a pair of integrally moldedbottom surface bumpers 112. Again, it is to be understood that termssuch as “bottom” are used for descriptive purposes within the context ofthe drawings and are in no way intended as being limiting. FIG. 8illustrates cover portion 60 assembled with a base portion 114 using alatching arrangement which will be described in further detail at anappropriate point below.

[0082] With the cover portion and base portion in the illustrated,assembled configuration, bottom surface bumpers 112 are arranged so asto extend outwardly, beyond the outline of the Digital Storage Element,as defined by the outer surface of base portion 114. Accordingly,resilient bumpers may be provided outwardly from every surface ofDigital Storage Element 10, surrounding the outline of the DigitalStorage Element such that, when the latter moves in any of six degreesof freedom relative to the host device by a sufficient amount, initialcontact between the host device and the Digital Storage Element is madeby one or more resilient bumpers. In this regard, it is noted that theresilient support arrangement of the present invention, includingsupport arms 22, is designed for constraining the movement of thedigital storage arrangement for anticipated mechanical shock forceshaving preselected magnitudes and frequencies over a specified range. Inthis way, the resilient support arrangement of the present invention maybe tailored to a particular range of shock forces to which the DigitalStorage Element is thought to be most susceptible. The value of thebumper system of the present invention, which surrounds the outline ofthe Digital Storage Element, resides primarily in protecting the DigitalStorage Element from mechanical shock forces that are outside the mostsusceptible range of shock forces. Accordingly, protection frommechanical shock forces across an overall range is thought to beenhanced in a sweeping manner which has not been seen heretofore.

[0083] Turning to FIG. 7b, a particular comer of cover portion 60 isshown in a partial, enlarged view, with previously described comerportion 100 of the resilient arrangement positioned therein.Additionally, however, this particular corner includes a recirculationfilter support arrangement which is generally indicated by the referencenumber 115 and which extends inwardly and integrally from gasket portion82 so as to form another portion of the resilient arrangement of thepresent invention. Recirculation filter support arrangement 115 includesa first end support 116 and a second end support 117 for supporting andcapturing first and second ends of a recirculation filter 118, which isshown in phantom using dashed lines. With the recirculation filter inthe illustrated position, attaching the cover portion to a base portionserves to capture the recirculation filter between major side 66 of thecover portion and the base portion, while its lateral position ismaintained by end supports 116 and 117. Further, first end support 116is offset from gasket portion 82 by a web 119. This web cooperates in ahighly advantageous way with first end support 116, a sidewall 121 ofgasket portion 82 and an attached base portion to defined a filterpassage 122 which routes air within the Digital Storage Element cavitythrough recirculation filter 118. The airflow is itself generated in aconventional manner as a byproduct of rotation of a rotating mediawithin the Storage Element, yet to be described.

[0084] Referring to FIG. 7c in conjunction with FIG. 7b, attention isdirected to further details relevant to the recirculation filter supportarrangement. In particular, FIG. 7c is a partial, further enlarged planview showing recirculation filter 118 captured by the first and secondsupport arrangements 118 and 120, respectively. The periphery of therecirculation filter, including its first and second ends 123 and 124,respectively, includes a V-shaped configuration, seen in FIG. 7c. TheV-shaped configuration serves in capturing the filter ends within Vgrooves defined by first and second end supports 116 and 117,respectively. Moreover, since the filter is generally formed from asomewhat resilient filtering material, its V-shaped periphery mayadditionally serve to seal its upper and lower edges against the baseand cover portions, respectively, when the cover is installed on a baseportion. The described recirculation filter support and passage definingarrangement is considered as being highly advantageous at least forreasons including multiple functionality as well as being integrallyformed with the gasket portion. It is important to understand that thepresent invention contemplates the use of the gasket portion to provideother, integrally formed features for purposes such as, but not limitedto holding items in position at any suitable point proximate to itsperiphery. Such holding features, for example, may be in the shape of apillar pushing and/or pulling certain parts at desired distances fromthe cover portion.

[0085] Referring now to FIG. 9, base portion 114 is shown includingdigital storage device 14. The latter is made up of a rotatable magneticmedia 125, an actuator arm 126 for accessing the rotatable magneticmedia and a voice coil motor assembly 128 for selectively moving theactuator arm. An intermediate support assembly 130 includes anintermediate support and a flexible circuit along with a ramp 132 forreceiving the actuator arm in a parked position, as is described incopending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/952,998 entitled DIGITALDEVICE CONFIGURATION AND METHOD, filed on Sep. 14, 2001 which iscommonly assigned with the present application and is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference. A base plate 140 serves insupporting the aforedescribed components. The base plate further definesa plurality of latching recesses 142 (only four of which are visible)that are engaged by previously described latching members 74 (see, forexample, FIG. 5) for the purpose of attaching cover portion 60 to baseportion. It is noted that this configuration is considered as beinghighly advantageous at least for the reason that threaded fasteners arenot employed. The latter are notoriously known as producing contaminantsduring threaded engagement. In this regard, it should be appreciatedthat base portion 114 should be positioned within cover portion 60 byexpanding peripheral sidewall 70 of the cover portion temporarilyoutward in a suitable manner such that the base portion may bepositioned within the cover portion without slidingly engaging latchingmembers 74 against base portion 114. Having properly positioned thecover portion and base portion relative to one another, the coverportion is then released such that latching members 74 are moved intolatching recesses 142. In this way, contamination produced by rubbingthe latching members against sidewalls of the base portion issubstantially avoided. Specific details with regard to the seal that isachieved using gasket portion 82 of resilient arrangement 20 capturedbetween the base portion and the cover portion will be describedimmediately hereinafter. At this juncture, it is appropriate to notethat the Digital Storage Element incorporates a breather filter (notshown) such that atmospheric gasses, under anticipated conditions, passonly through the breather filter for purposes of equalizing changes inambient pressure and for sealing airborne contaminants out of theenclosure.

[0086] Referring to FIG. 10 in conjunction with FIGS. 7a and 9, apartial diagrammatic cross-sectional view is shown taken through thecorner region of cover portion 60. In this view, cover portion 60 isshown along with one of latching members 74. Gasket portion 82 isfurther illustrated, arranged in the peripheral comer region of thecover portion and including a peripheral, upstanding resilient sealinglip or collar 150 which is angled toward peripheral sidewall 70 forpurposes of engaging a peripheral sealing rim 152 (see FIG. 9) that isdefined by base portion 114, as will be seen. Gasket portion 82 furtherincludes a resilient biasing cone 154. At least two of these resilientbiasing cones are formed spaced apart on each edge of gasket portion 82.Further details with regard to sealing lip 150 and resilient biasingcones 154 will be provided immediately hereinafter.

[0087] Turning to FIG. 11, cover portion 60 is shown in the samecross-sectional view as that of FIG. 10, but including base portion 114(only partially shown) installed within the cover portion such thatperipheral sealing rim 152 engages peripheral sealing lip 150 of thegasket portion. With this engagement, angled peripheral sealing lip 150moves against the peripheral sealing rim and applies a self-biasingresilient force thereto as a result of the angled configuration ofperipheral sealing lip 150. Contact between the peripheral sealing rimand the peripheral sealing lip serves in a highly advantageous way toseal the inner cavity of Digital Storage Element 10, which containsstorage device 14. As briefly described above, it is preferable toinitially position base portion 114 within cover portion 60 by firstmoving or temporarily biasing peripheral sidewall 70 outward, in thedirection indicated by an arrow 160. The cover portion is then placedinto position and the peripheral sidewall is released so that latchingmembers 74 engage latching recesses 142. One latching member is shown,by FIG. 11, in an engaged position within a latching recess. It shouldbe appreciated that a seal is achieved between an inner sidewall 162 ofrim 152 and peripheral sealing lip 150 before the base portion is fullyreceived into the cover portion and thereafter maintained within apredetermined vertical (in the view of the figure) movement range of thecover portion, such that the inner cavity of the Digital Storage Elementis fully sealed once latching recesses 142 and latching member 74achieve an aligned position and are, thereafter, released. Therefore,any contamination generated by contact between the latching memberengaging its opposing latching recess is produced after sealing thecover portion and base portion to one another. In and by itself, thisconfiguration is considered to be highly advantageous. As will befurther described, the seal is advantageously maintained even when thecover portion compresses the biasing cones by an amount that is greaterthan required for purposes of releasing the latching members. Moreover,the seal is maintained even with lateral, relative movement between thecover portion and base portion. This lateral movement is facilitated bysway spaces 163 between peripheral sidewall 70 and peripheral sealingrim 152 and between latching member 74 and base portion 114.

[0088] Still referring to FIG. 11, attention is now directed to specificdetails concerning resilient biasing cones 154, which are distributedabout the peripheral gasket portion, and one of which is shown in FIG.11. As cover portion 60 and base portion 114 are brought into theengaged position, a lower surface 156 of peripheral sealing rim 152contacts resilient biasing cone 154, which is integrally formed withgasket portion 82. Each resilient biasing cone 154 includes aconfiguration which cooperates collectively with the remaining biasingcones to bias cover portion 114 upward, in the view of the figure, so asto maintain contact between latching member 74 and the cover portion ata contact point 164 under static conditions. The use of resilientbiasing cones is highly advantageous for the purpose of maintaining apredetermined outward bias force against lower surface 156 of peripheralsealing rim 152 in a direction that is indicated by an arrow 166. Suchcontrolled force provides the ability to relatively precisely controlthe amount of bias force that is applied. In this regard, if lowersurface 156 of peripheral sealing rim 152 is, at once, brought intocontact with the overall periphery of gasket portion 82, therebycapturing the gasket portion, other than peripheral sealing collar 150,between the base and cover portions, the gasket portion will present arelatively high stiffness. The latter may be problematic with regard toproviding the ability to move the base portion sufficiently into thecover portion in order to permit engagement of latching members 74 withlatching recess 142 in a desired manner, as will be further described.By using resilient biasing cones 154 of the present invention, a steppedstiffness arrangement is produced whereby, during an initial contactstep, a controlled initial stiffness is presented as lower surface 156contacts and compresses resilient cones 154. If movement of the baseportion continues, a subsequent stiffness step is encountered in whichdramatically higher force is required to continue movement of peripheralsealing rim 152 into gasket portion 82. The use of the resilient biasingcones provides for latching of the cover and base portions in a highlydesirable fashion, as will be described in detail immediatelyhereinafter.

[0089] Referring to FIG. 12 in conjunction with FIG. 13 and continuingwith a description of the stepped bias configuration used in resilientlybiasing cover portion 60 and base portion 114 away from one another,during the process of attaching the base and cover portions, it isdesirable to move base portion 114 downward in a direction indicated byan arrow 168, as shown in FIG. 12, to compress biasing cone 154 by anamount which allows each latching member 74 to move into its associatedlatching recess 142 without contacting base portion 114. Contact is thenallowed to occur by releasing base portion 114 so as to permit it tomove upward, as shown in FIG. 11, to contact latching member 74 atcontact point 164. Thus, potential contamination-producing rubbing isavoided between latching member 74 and base portion 114 at contactsurface 174. In order to facilitate this desired engagement process,resilient cones 154 are configured such that the base portion and coverportion may be attached to one another using only the initial,controlled stiffness afforded by the resilient biasing cones. That is,the aforedescribed subsequent stepped stiffness step, presented by lowersurface 156 of sealing rim 152 engaging the entire periphery of gasketportion, is not entered. This arrangement is considered as highlyadvantageous for a number of reasons including that of providing arelatively low, consistent value of biasing force during the mating ofthe cover and base portions. It should be appreciated that throughoutthe process of vertical movement required for installation of the coverportion onto the base portion, the aforementioned vertical movementrange maintains a seal between the cover and base portions. As will bedescribed immediately below, such provisions for movement of the baseportion relative to the cover portion are also highly advantageous withregard to mitigating the effects of mechanical shock, particularly inview of the manner in which the Digital Storage Element is supported.Another highly advantageous implementation of the latching member of thepresent invention will be described at an appropriate point below, whichstill further enhances mechanical shock mitigation.

[0090] Referring initially to FIGS. 8 through 12, attention is nowdirected to a highly advantageous aspect of the structure describedabove which still further enhances protection of digital storagearrangement 14 (see FIG. 9) from the effects of mechanical shockreceived by the Digital Storage Element of the present invention. In oneaspect of this advantage, alluded to above, base portion 114 isresiliently supported in a way which allows it to “float” or moverelative to cover portion 60. In this regard, it is important tounderstand that digital storage arrangement 14 is supported by baseportion 114 which is, in turn, supported by cover portion 60. Theaforedescribed resilient support arrangement (see, for example, FIG. 8)extends between the cover portion and the host device. In this way,digital storage arrangement 14 is protected by at least two separatelevels of mechanical shock isolation. Specifically, the resilientsupport arrangement extends between the host device and the DigitalStorage Element to provide a first level of isolation, while the baseportion, floating within the cover portion of the Digital StorageElement, serves to provide a second level of isolation. A number ofaspects of the described structure contribute to this advantage, each ofwhich will be taken up in subsequent discussions. Moreover, a dampingconfiguration is provided which further serves to cushion and/or limitmovement of the base portion relative to the cover portion when suchmovement does occur.

[0091] Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, it should be appreciated thatmovement of base portion 114 relative to cover portion 60 isfacilitated, in part, by peripheral sealing collar 150. The latter, inthe view of FIG. 11, provides for vertical, as well as lateral relativemotion of the base portion within a predetermined range while stillmaintaining a seal between the cover portion and the base portion. Atthe same time, vertical and lateral relative motion is permitted by theconfiguration of biasing cones 154 cooperating with latching members 74.The latter may move laterally and vertically within latching recesses142. Compression of biasing cones 154 and, in the instance of higherlevels of mechanical shock, subsequent compression of the overallperiphery of gasket portion 82 (see, for example, FIG. 7) provides forvertical as well as lateral relative motion.

[0092] With regard to the specific configuration illustrated in FIGS. 11and 12, it is to be understood that any suitable modification iscontemplated and considered as being within the scope of the appendedclaims so long as the teachings herein are applied. For example,resilient biasing cones 154 may be replaced by biasing pedestals havingany number of alternative forms in order to provide the contemplatedstepped biasing arrangement. That is, a conical shape is not requiredand any suitable number of biasing pedestals may be provided about theperiphery of gasket portion 82. Moreover, the illustrated configurationof cover portion 60 cooperating with peripheral sealing lip 150 of thegasket portion may be modified in any suitable manner so long as a sealis achieved between the cover portion and the base portion. Likewise,the configuration of latching recesses 142 may be modified in anysuitable manner.

[0093] Turning to FIGS. 7a through 9, corner portions 100, which form aportion of the resilient arrangement, are positioned between the comersof base portion 114 and cover portion 60 when the cover portion isselectively attached to the base portion. At the same time, a sway space180 (see FIG. 8) is provided between each comer portion and theconfronting comer of the base portion. With sufficient movement of thebase portion inside the cover portion, the base portion comer movesthrough this sway space and engages corner portion 100 of the resilientarrangement. Accordingly, the comer portion serves in a highlyadvantageous way to cushion and dampen the relative movement, therebymitigating the effects of mechanical shock on digital storagearrangement 14 supported by base portion 114.

[0094] Referring to FIG. 13, attention is now directed to an alternativeembodiment of the shock mount of the present invention, generallyindicated by the reference number 22′ and illustrated diagrammatically.Since design considerations as well as functional aspects of shock mount22′ are essentially identical to those of previously described shockmount 22, shown in FIG. 4, the reader is referred to those shock mountdescriptions which appear above. Descriptions of shock mount 22′ will belimited, for the most part, to differences between the two embodiments.It is worthwhile to emphasize, however, that shock mount 22′ may readilybe formed as an integral portion of an overall resilient arrangement.Like shock mount 22, shock mount 22′ may be molded through a comerregion through-opening such as is shown in FIG. 5, as indicated thereinby the reference number 64. In addition to its previously describedfeatures, shock mount 22′ further includes a pair of elongated bumpers180 that are arranged proximate to a side margin of peripheral sidewall70, positioned outward of beam portion 38. Each bumper 180 defines anelongation axis 182 that is generally normal to a plane which containsmajor surface 44 a. Moreover, each bumper 180 extends outward withrespect to planes coincident with the upper and lower major surfaces ofDigital Storage Element 10. That is, outside the overall outline of theDigital Storage Element. While support cylinder 40 at the distal end ofthe shock mount is fixedly captured by the host device (see FIGS. 3 and4), bumpers 180 are configured to move with Storage Element 10 andrelative to the host device when a mechanical shock force is received bythe host device. When the Digital Storage Element experiences movementhaving a component oriented along elongation axes 182 having asufficient magnitude, bumpers 180 are configured for contacting the hostdevice prior to any other contact occurring directly between the hostdevice and Digital Storage Element 10. Benefits derived from such anarrangement have been described above with regard to an anticipatedrange of shock forces and frequency. The columnar configuration ofbumpers 180 is shown here for illustrative purposes only and is notintended to be limiting. Accordingly, any configuration serving bumperfunctionality may be provided proximate to peripheral sidewall 70 aspart of the shock mount of the present invention.

[0095] Attention is now directed to FIGS. 14 through 16 for the purposeof describing a number of alternative, but highly advantageous featureswhich may be incorporated in cover portion 60. FIG. 14 is an outside,perspective view of one comer of the cover portion, while FIG. 15 is aninside, perspective view of the comer of the cover portion. FIG. 16 is apartial cross-sectional view taken through the cover portion along aline 16-16 which is indicated in Figure 14 and will be furtherdescribed. The present discussion will be limited to items which differfrom those described above, for purposes of brevity.

[0096] Referring to FIGS. 14 and 16, the illustrated embodiment of coverportion 60 is formed having a beveled peripheral comer 200 defining asurface, which may be flat, between a pair of opposing 45 degree bends202 (best seen in FIG. 16). A plurality of through-openings 204 (one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 16) are defined within the flat surface betweenbends 202 and about the entire periphery of the cover portion. Resilientarrangement 20 is then molded so as to extend from gasket portion 82,within the cover portion, outwardly from through-openings 204 to aperipheral, integrally formed comer bumper 206. Any suitable number ofthrough-openings 204 may be formed along each side of the cover portiondepending, for example, on support provided for comer bumper 206. It isnoted that resilient cone 154, as well as peripheral sealing collar 150are also visible in FIG. 16. Of course, the illustrated configuration ofperipheral comer bumper 206 is not intended as being limiting, but maybe modified in any suitable manner. For example, in one alternativeembodiment, the peripheral comer bumper may include a configuration thatis defined generally by (or within) a dashed line 208, in FIG. 16, suchthat the peripheral comer bumper is defined as being at least generallywithin the outline of cover portion 60 as viewed prior to the additionof beveled comer 200. That is, the outline of the comer bumper is at orwithin a comer region as defined by extension of the planes of theperipheral sidewall and the major side or panel of the cover portion.Accordingly, this configuration is advantageous in preserving themovement margin, which surrounds the Digital Storage Element of thepresent invention, while still providing protection against directcontact between the host device and the cover portion in the event thata mechanical shock received by the host device causes the cover portionto move completely through the movement margin. It should be appreciatedthat comer bumper 206 may extend continuously about the periphery of thecorner portion. Alternatively, comer bumper 206 may be formed as anynumber of individual bumpers about the periphery of the cover portionusing appropriate arrangements and numbers of through-openings 204.

[0097] Still referring to FIGS. 14 through 16, attention is now directedto a highly advantageous latching arm 220, which was briefly mentionedabove. In the present example, latching arms 220 are formed in theperipheral sidewall of cover portion 60 by stamping, however anysuitable method may be used. Each latching arm 220 includes acantilevered, resilient body 222 (see FIG. 15) which extends to a distalend 224 that is also visible in FIG. 16. A notch 226 is formedimmediately ahead of distal end 224 of each latching arm. Attaching thisembodiment of the cover portion to a base portion may be accomplished byusing an appropriate assembly tool to reach into each notch 226 so as toengage distal end 224 of each latching arm. The distal ends are thensimultaneously pulled outward during placement of the cover portion ontoa base portion 114 (see FIG. 9). Latching arms 220 may then be releasedto move into position within the latching recesses, as previouslydescribed with regard to latching members 74, in a manner which avoidsrubbing the latching arms against the cover portion in acontamination-producing manner. With brief reference to FIG. 12, it isnoted that the released distal end of the latching arm may occupy aregion extending from a dashed line 230 and innermost edge 232 ofpreviously described latching member 74, upon release of the latchingarm into the latching recess. It is to be understood that, whileillustrated as being straight and rectangular in cross-section, distalend 224 of the latching arms may include any suitable configuration suchas, for example, a curved hook-like shape or an angled shape.

[0098] The use of latching arms 220 is considered as highly advantageouswith regard to the aforedescribed second level of mechanical shockisolation, wherein the base portion floats within the cover portion,since the cantilevered latching arms themselves add a further degree ofresilience in the attachment of base portion 114 to cover portion 60.Stated in a slightly different manner, a shock force received by thehost device upon reaching cover portion 60 and being attenuated by theresilient support arrangement of the present invention, must then passthrough a further level of resilient support in the form of latchingarms 220, prior to reaching the base portion. It should be appreciatedthat any suitable number of latching arms may be used for purposes ofattaching the cover portion to the base portion. While the presentexample uses a pair of latching arms formed in each peripheral sidewallof the cover portion, this is not a requirement.

[0099] Having generally described the configuration of latching arms220, it should be appreciated that design considerations described abovewith regard to resilient support arms 22 are also applicable with regardto the configuration of the latching arms. The geometry of the latchingarms including their length and width are adjustable in View of thethickness of the peripheral sidewall of the base portion in order toprovide appropriate shock response.

[0100] With reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, the latter illustrates analternative comer portion 100′which shown positioned within peripheralsidewall 70 having an arcuate shaped inner surface 230. It is noted thatthe presence of peripheral comer bumper 206 obviates the need forsidewall bumpers 110, the absence of which is seen by comparison offigures

[0101] At this juncture, it is worthwhile to again briefly consider theaforedescribed prior art. With regard to the use of rubber grommets forthe purpose of mechanical shock mitigation, it is submitted that theresilient support arm arrangement of the present invention avoids thecomplex multi-mode response interaction that is presented by rubbergrommets. From an analytical standpoint, therefore, the presentinvention facilitates the implementation of a precision control shockisolation arrangement through the described design approach. That is,the resilient support arm arrangement of the present invention respondsin a significantly more predictable manner, such that responsecharacteristics are readily modified by making geometric and/or materialproperty changes. With regard to the '440 patent, it is submitted that apredictable, designed mechanical shock isolation response is essentiallyunachievable in view of a given shock force to be received by a hostdevice or with regard to implementing an overall, designed response witha n an overall mechanical shock force magnitude and frequency range. Thepresent invention, in contrast, provides such capabilities while, at thesame time, requiring a receiving cavity defining a relatively smallmovement margin surrounding the Digital Storage Element. The '440 patentillustrates a relatively enormous movement margin, disadvantageouslycomprising a significant portion of the external hard drive case inwhich the hard drive is positioned.

[0102] Since the Digital Storage Element and resilient arrangement alongwith the associated method disclosed herein may be provided in a varietyof different configurations and the method may be practiced in a varietyof different ways, it should be understood that the present inventionmay be embodied in many other specific ways without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the present examples andmethods are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, andthe invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but maybe modified within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A digital storage arrangement electricallyinterfaceable with a host device, said host device defining a storagedevice cavity, said digital storage arrangement comprising: a housingreceivable in the storage device cavity in a way which provides amovement margin between the housing and the host device; digital storagemeans susceptible to a given mechanical shock, at least to a limitedextent, located within said housing; a flexible electricalinterconnection arrangement for providing electrical communicationbetween the digital storage means and the host device across saidmovement margin; and a resilient support arrangement for fixedengagement with said host device and engaging said housing whileextending through said movement margin to support the housing within thestorage device cavity in a way which subjects the digital storage meansto a lesser degree of mechanical shock when the host device receivessaid given mechanical shock.
 2. The digital storage arrangement of claim1 wherein said resilient support arrangement includes a resilientmaterial extending through said movement margin.
 3. The digital storagearrangement of claim 2 wherein said resilient material is a low modulusmaterial.
 4. The digital storage arrangement of claim 1 wherein saiddigital storage means is electromechanical.
 5. The digital storagearrangement of claim 4 wherein said digital storage means includes arotatable media and a head arrangement configured at least for readingthe rotatable media.
 6. The digital storage arrangement of claim 1wherein said housing includes a pair of at least generally opposingmajor sides and a peripheral sidewall extending between said opposingmajor sides and wherein said resilient support arrangement extends fromsaid peripheral sidewall.
 7. The digital storage arrangement of claim 6wherein said peripheral sidewall defines a plurality of comer regionsand wherein said resilient support arrangement provides support byextending from each comer region to the host device.
 8. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 7 wherein said peripheral sidewall at eachcomer region defines a through-opening and said resilient supportarrangement includes at least one portion within the peripheral sidewalland another portion which extends outwardly therefrom through eachthrough opening to the host device.
 9. The digital storage arrangementof claim 8 wherein said portion of the resilient support arrangementwithin the peripheral sidewall extends therefrom to form a bumperconfiguration that moves with the housing such that the bumperconfiguration comes into contact with the host device prior to directcontact between the housing and the host device with movement of thehousing relative to the host device.
 10. The digital storage arrangementof claim 9 wherein said bumper configuration defines at least one bumperwhich extends outwardly with respect to a plane that is at leastgenerally coincident with one of said major sides for contacting thehost device prior to direct contact between the housing and the hostdevice.
 11. The digital storage arrangement of claim 9 wherein saidbumper configuration defines at least one bumper which extends outwardlythrough said peripheral sidewall for contacting the host device prior todirect contact between the housing and the host device.
 12. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 8 wherein said portion of the resilientsupport arrangement within the peripheral sidewall extends therefrom toform a bumper configuration that moves with the housing such that thebumper configuration comes into contact with the host device prior tomechanical shock induced direct contact between the housing and the hostdevice when the housing moves having a sufficient component of movementnormal to said opposing major sides.
 13. The digital storage arrangementof claim 12 wherein said generally opposing major sides define athickness therebetween and are at least approximately contained within apair of parallel planes and said bumper configuration includes a lengthgenerally normal to said parallel planes and greater than said thicknessso as to project outwardly beyond each of the parallel planes.
 14. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 8 including a recirculation filterfor filtering air within said housing and wherein said resilient supportarrangement proximate to one of said corner regions includes a filterconfiguration for at least partially supporting said recirculationfilter.
 15. The digital storage arrangement of claim 14 wherein thefilter configuration further defines, at least partially, a filterpassage for directing air through the recirculation filter.
 16. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 1 wherein said housing includes apair of at least generally opposing major sides and a peripheralsidewall extending between said opposing major sides and wherein saidresilient support arrangement extends from said peripheral sidewallincluding at least one resilient support arm extending between theperipheral sidewall and the host device such that movement of thedigital storage arrangement relative to the host device places dynamicmechanical stress on said resilient support arm.
 17. The digital storagearrangement of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a pair of at leastgenerally opposing major sides and a peripheral sidewall extendingbetween said opposing major sides and said peripheral sidewall defines aplurality of comer regions and said resilient support arrangementsupports the comer regions using a plurality of support members, one ofwhich support members extends between each comer region and the hostdevice such that the housing is supported, in the absence of saidmechanical shock, having each of said support members under stress. 18.The digital storage arrangement of claim 17 wherein said support membersare arranged such that movement of the digital storage arrangementrelative to the host device places dynamic mechanical stress on saidsupport members in a way which attenuates the movement.
 19. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 17 wherein said support members and saidmovement margin are cooperatively configured for permitting mechanicallyinduced movement of the housing relative to the host device in sixdegrees of freedom to provide a controlled response for each one of thesix degrees of freedom.
 20. The digital storage arrangement of claim 19wherein said support members are cooperatively configured forconstraining movement of the housing in so as to avoid contact with thehost device for the given force.
 21. The digital storage arrangement ofclaim 1 wherein said housing is arranged in said storage device cavitysuch that the movement margin serves, at least in part, to limit athermal transfer rate between the host device and the housing.
 22. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 1 wherein said resilient supportarrangement includes at least one integrally formed resilient armextending outwardly from said housing and having a distal endconfiguration defining a pair of opposing contact points forsupportingly engaging said host device.
 23. The digital storagearrangement of claim 22 wherein said distal end configuration isconfigured for capture by the host device in a way which biases the pairof opposing contact points towards one another.
 24. The digital storagearrangement of claim 23 wherein said distal end configuration includes asupport column having a pair of opposing ends, each of which defines oneof said contact points.
 25. The digital storage arrangement of claim 24wherein said housing defines a pair of at least generally opposing majorsides and said support column defines an elongation axis that is atleast generally normal to the opposing major sides prior to capture ofthe support column by the host device.
 26. The digital storagearrangement of claim 1 wherein said resilient support arrangementincludes at least one integrally formed resilient arm extendingoutwardly from said housing and having a distal end configuration forsupportingly engaging said host device and said resilient arm includes abumper configuration proximate to said housing that is configured tomove with the housing and relative to the host device such that thebumper configuration comes into contact with the host device prior todirect contact between the housing and the host device when the housingmoves having a sufficient component of movement along a selecteddirection.
 27. The digital storage arrangement of claim 26 wherein saidhousing defines a pair of at least generally opposing major sides andsaid bumper configuration is configured to come into contact with thehost device when the sufficient component of movement is normal to saidopposing major sides.
 28. The digital storage arrangement of claim 26wherein said housing includes a housing outline which defines a pair ofat least generally opposing major sides having a thickness therebetweenand which are at least approximately contained within a pair of parallelplanes and said bumper configuration includes a length generally normalto said parallel planes and greater than said thickness so as to projectoutwardly beyond each of the parallel planes.
 29. The digital storagearrangement of claim 28 wherein said bumper configuration includes apair of bumper columns arranged along a side margin of said support armand defining said length normal to the opposing planes.
 30. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a baseportion and a cover portion that are attachable with one another using alatching arrangement that forms part of the cover portion and part ofthe base portion.
 31. The digital storage arrangement of claim 30wherein said cover portion includes a plurality of latching arms thatare moveable at least from an unlatched position to a latched position,as one part of said latching arrangement, and said base portion definesa plurality of latching recesses, as another part of said latchingarrangement, such that the latching arms in said unlatched position arealignable with the latching recesses upon placing the cover portion onthe base portion and said latching arms are then moveable to the latchedposition to attach the cover portion onto the base portion.
 32. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 31 wherein said cover portion isformed from a sheet material and said latching arms are stamped as anintegral portion of said sheet material.
 33. The digital storagearrangement of claim 1 wherein said housing includes a base portion anda cover portion that are attachable with one another and said resilientsupport arrangement is an integrally formed portion of a resilientarrangement further including a gasket portion that is integrally formedtherewith to seal attached ones of the cover portion and the baseportion to one another for sealing the digital storage means within thehousing.
 34. The digital storage arrangement of claim 33 wherein saidgasket portion is fixedly positioned in one of the base portion and thecover portion and said gasket portion includes a sealing configurationfor engaging the other one of the base portion and the cover portion andsaid gasket portion further defines a biasing configuration, separatefrom said sealing configuration, for resiliently biasing attached onesof the cover and base portion away from one another.
 35. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 34 wherein said gasket portion is moldedinto position in said cover portion.
 36. The digital storage arrangementof claim 34 wherein said gasket portion is attached to the cover portionand said biasing configuration includes a plurality of biasing pedestalswhich contact the base portion to resiliently bias the base and coverportions away from one another in a controlled way.
 37. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 33 wherein said cover portion includes afirst major side and said gasket portion is attached at least partiallyto an inner surface of said first major side.
 38. The digital storagearrangement of claim 37 wherein said cover portion includes a peripheralsidewall extending outwardly from said first major side and said gasketportion is attached at least partially to an inner area of saidperipheral sidewall.
 39. The digital storage arrangement of claim 33wherein said cover portion includes a first panel defining a first majorarea and having a periphery and further includes a sidewall extendingtransversely from said periphery in a way which cooperates with thefirst panel to define a peripheral comer region and said gasket portionis fixedly disposed, at least in part, in said comer region.
 40. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 39 wherein said gasket portion ismolded into the peripheral corner region.
 41. The digital storagearrangement of claim 39 wherein said base portion includes a peripheralsealing rim that is configured to engage the gasket portion to seal thedigital storage means within said housing.
 42. The digital storagearrangement of claim 33 wherein said cover portion defines a pluralityof through-holes into which said resilient arrangement is molded toserve, at least in part, to positionally retain the gasket portion andthe resilient support arrangement.
 43. The digital storage arrangementof claim 42 wherein said cover portion includes a first panel defining amajor surface of the cover portion and which defines said through-holes.44. The digital storage arrangement of claim 42 wherein said coverportion is formed from a sheet material which defines said through-holesand which includes an outer surface and said resilient arrangementextends through each through-hole outwardly from said outer surface toform a resilient bumper outward of each through-hole as one of aplurality of resilient bumpers.
 45. The digital storage arrangement ofclaim 44 wherein said cover portion includes a major panel and aperipheral sidewall attached at a periphery of the major panel andwherein at least one group of said plurality of resilient bumpers isformed to extend outwardly from said major panel.
 46. The digitalstorage arrangement of claim 45 wherein at least another group of saidplurality of resilient bumpers extends outwardly from said peripheralsidewall.
 47. The digital storage arrangement of claim 44 wherein saidplurality of resilient bumpers forms a bumper configuration forinitially contacting the host device at a periphery of the movementmargin.
 48. The digital storage arrangement of claim 42 wherein saidcover portion is formed from a sheet material which defines saidthrough-holes and which includes an outer surface and said resilientarrangement extends through each through-hole outwardly from said outersurface to form a resilient bumper which extends continuously between atleast two of said through-holes.
 49. The digital storage arrangement ofclaim 48 wherein said cover portion includes a periphery and saidresilient bumper extends continuously about the periphery of the coverportion.
 50. The digital storage arrangement of claim 48 wherein saidcover portion includes a peripheral comer region and said resilientbumper extends continuously about the peripheral comer region.
 51. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 50 wherein said peripheral cornerregion includes a beveled surface formed between a major side of thecover portion and a surrounding, peripheral sidewall, and said resilientbumper is formed on said beveled surface and within a cover outline thatis defined by extension of the peripheral sidewall and the major side insaid peripheral corner region.
 52. The digital storage arrangement ofclaim 1 wherein said digital storage means may be subjected to a givenvibration through the host device and wherein said resilient supportarrangement is configured for damping the given vibration.
 53. A digitalstorage arrangement that is interfaceable with a host device, saiddigital storage arrangement comprising: a housing including a coverportion and a base portion selectively attachable with one another, atleast said cover portion being formed from a sheet material whichdefines a plurality of through-holes and which includes an outersurface; digital storage means for location within said housing; aresilient arrangement including a gasket portion that is integrallyformed therewith to seal attached ones of the cover portion and the baseportion to one another for sealing the digital storage means within thehousing and said resilient arrangement extends through each through-holeoutwardly from said outer surface to form a resilient bumper outward ofeach through-hole so as to provide a plurality of resilient bumpers; aflexible electrical interface arrangement for providing electricalcommunication between the storage device and the digital storage meansthrough said housing; and a support arrangement for supporting thehousing within said host device.
 54. In the manufacture of a digitalstorage arrangement that is interfaceable with a host device, a methodcomprising the steps of: forming a housing including a cover portion anda base portion selectively attachable with one another, at least saidcover portion being formed from a sheet material which defines aplurality of through-holes and which includes an outer surface;positioning digital storage means within said housing; molding aresilient arrangement including a gasket portion to seal attached onesof the cover portion and the base portion to one another for sealing thedigital storage means within the housing and integrally molding, as partof the resilient arrangement, a plurality of resilient bumpers, one ofwhich is provided for extending through each through-hole outwardly fromsaid outer surface to form one resilient bumper outward of eachthrough-hole; providing a flexible electrical interface arrangement forestablishing electrical communication between the storage device and thedigital storage means; and supporting the housing within said hostdevice.
 55. A digital storage arrangement that is interfaceable with ahost device, said digital storage arrangement comprising: a housingincluding a cover portion and a base portion that are attachable withone another using a latching arrangement forming part of the coverportion and part of the base portion; digital storage means for locationwithin said housing; a sealing arrangement for sealing the digitalstorage means within the housing between attached ones of the baseportion and cover portion; a flexible electrical interface arrangementfor providing electrical communication between the storage device andthe digital storage means through said housing; and a supportarrangement for supporting the housing within said host device.
 56. Thedigital storage arrangement of claim 55 wherein said cover portionincludes a plurality of latching arms that are moveable between anunlatched position and a latched position, as one part of said latchingarrangement, and said base portion defines a plurality of latchingrecesses, as another part of said latching arrangement, such that thelatching arms in said unlatched position are alignable with the latchingrecesses upon placing the cover portion on the base portion and are thenmoveable to the latched position to secure the cover portion onto thebase portion.
 57. The digital storage arrangement of claim 56 whereinsaid cover portion is formed from a sheet material and said latchingarms are stamped as an integral portion of said sheet material.
 58. Inproducing a digital storage arrangement that is interfaceable with ahost device, a method comprising the steps of: arranging a housing toinclude a cover portion, a base portion and a latching arrangementforming part of the cover portion and part of the base portion forattaching the cover portion to the base portion using the latchingarrangement; providing digital storage means for location within saidhousing; sealing the digital storage means within the housing betweenattached ones of the base portion and cover portion using a sealingarrangement; connecting a flexible electrical interface arrangementbetween the digital storage means and the digital storage arrangementfor providing electrical communication therebetween; and supporting thehousing within said host device.
 59. The method of claim 58 wherein thestep of arranging said housing includes the steps of forming a pluralityof latching arms that are moveable between an unlatched position and alatched position, as one part of said latching arrangement, and defininga plurality of latching recesses in said base portion, as another partof said latching arrangement, such that the latching arms in saidunlatched position are alignable with the latching recesses upon placingthe cover portion on the base portion and are then moveable to thelatched position to secure the cover portion onto the base portion. 60.The method of claim 59 wherein said cover portion is formed from a sheetmaterial and the step of forming said latching arms includes the step ofstamping the latching arms as an integral portion of said sheetmaterial.
 61. A resilient arrangement for use in a digital storagearrangement including digital storage means that is electricallyinterfaceable with a host device and that is susceptible to a givenmechanical shock, said digital storage arrangement including a housinghaving a base portion and a cover portion that are selectivelyattachable with one another, said host device defining a storage devicecavity, said resilient arrangement comprising: a gasket portion that isintegrally formed to seal attached ones of the cover portion and thebase portion to one another for sealing the digital storage means withinthe housing; and a support portion that is integrally formed and whichextends outwardly from said housing and is configured for engagementwith said host device to support the housing within the storage devicecavity in a way which subjects the digital storage means to a lesserdegree of mechanical shock when the host device receives said givenmechanical shock.
 62. The resilient arrangement of claim 61 wherein saidhousing defines an outer surface and said resilient arrangement includesa bumper portion that is integrally formed and that extends outwardly atleast from one portion of said outer surface to form a plurality ofresilient bumpers.
 63. A method for producing a resilient arrangementfor use in a digital storage arrangement including digital storage meansthat is electrically interfaceable with a host device and that issusceptible to a given mechanical shock, said digital storagearrangement including a housing having a base portion and a coverportion that are selectively attachable with one another, said hostdevice defining a storage device cavity, said method comprising thesteps of: integrally forming said resilient arrangement to include (i) agasket portion for sealing attached ones of the cover portion and thebase portion to one another for sealing the digital storage means withinthe housing and (ii) a support portion for extending outwardly from saidhousing configured for engagement with said host device to support thehousing within the storage device cavity in a way which subjects thedigital storage means to a lesser degree of mechanical shock when thehost device receives said given mechanical shock.
 64. The method ofclaim 63 wherein said housing defines an outer surface and said integralforming step includes the step of further forming a bumper portion forextending outwardly at least from one portion of said outer surface toform a plurality of resilient bumpers.
 65. A resilient arrangement foruse in a digital storage arrangement including digital storage means,said digital storage arrangement including a housing having a baseportion and a cover portion, each having outer surfaces, such that thebase and cover portions are selectively attachable with one another,said resilient arrangement comprising: a gasket portion to seal attachedones of the cover portion and the base portion to one another forsealing the digital storage means within the housing; and a bumperportion that that is integrally formed along with the gasket portion andthat extends outwardly beyond at least one of said outer surfaces toform at least one resilient bumper.
 66. A method for producing aresilient arrangement for use in a digital storage arrangement includingdigital storage means, said digital storage arrangement including ahousing having a base portion and a cover portion, each having outersurfaces, such that the base and cover portions are selectivelyattachable with one another, said method comprising the steps of:forming a gasket portion to seal attached ones of the cover portion andthe base portion to one another for sealing the digital storage meanswithin the housing; and integrally forming a bumper portion along withthe gasket portion for extending outwardly beyond at least one of saidouter surfaces to form a plurality of resilient bumpers.
 67. A resilientarrangement for use in a digital storage arrangement which itselfincludes digital storage means, said digital storage arrangement furtherincluding a housing having a base portion and a cover portion such thatthe base and cover portions are selectively attachable with one another,said resilient arrangement comprising: a sealing portion received in oneof the base portion and the cover portion and configured for engagingthe other one of the base portion and the cover portion to seal thedigital storage means within the housing; and a biasing portion,separate from said sealing portion, but formed integrally therewith forresiliently biasing engaged ones of the cover and base portion away fromone another.
 68. The resilient arrangement of claim 67 wherein saidbiasing portion includes a plurality of biasing pedestals which contactthe cover portion to resiliently bias engaged ones of the base and coverportions away from one another in a controlled way.
 69. The resilientarrangement of claim 68 wherein said biasing pedestals include a conicalconfiguration.
 70. A method for using a resilient arrangement in adigital storage arrangement which itself includes digital storage means,said digital storage arrangement further including a housing having abase portion and a cover portion such that the base and cover portionsare selectively attachable with one another, said method comprising thesteps of: positioning a sealing portion of the resilient arrangement inone of the base portion and the cover portion which sealing portion isconfigured for engaging the other one of the base portion and the coverportion to seal the digital storage means within the housing; and usinga biasing portion of the resilient arrangement that is separate fromsaid sealing portion, but formed integrally therewith, to resilientlybias engaged ones of the cover portion and base portion away from oneanother.
 71. The method of claim 70 wherein the step of using thebiasing portion includes the step of resiliently biasing engaged ones ofthe base and cover portions away from one another in a controlled wayusing a plurality of biasing pedestals, forming part of the biasingportion, which deformably contact the cover portion.
 72. The method ofclaim 71 including the step of forming said biasing pedestals to includea conical configuration.
 73. A method for producing an electronicassembly, said method comprising the steps of: providing a digitalstorage arrangement including a housing having a housing outline anddigital storage means, susceptible to a given mechanical shock at leastto a limited extent, supported within said housing; providing a hostdevice defining a storage device cavity for receiving the digitalstorage arrangement; forming a resilient support arrangement to extendfrom said housing and for fixedly engaging said host device so as toextend therebetween to support the housing within the storage devicecavity in a way which subjects the digital storage arrangement to alesser degree of mechanical shock when the host device receives saidgiven mechanical shock; and electrically interfacing the host device tosaid digital storage arrangement using a flexible electrical interfacearrangement to provide electrical communication between the digitalstorage arrangement and the host device.
 74. The method of claim 73wherein a low modulus material is used to form said resilient supportarrangement.
 75. The method of claim 73 wherein said forming step formssaid resilient support arrangement using a resilient material having amechanical shock attenuation property.
 76. The method of claim 73including the step of configuring the housing to include a pair of atleast generally opposing major sides and a peripheral sidewall extendingbetween said pair of opposing major sides and said forming step includesthe step of extending the resilient support arrangement from saidperipheral sidewall.
 77. The method of claim 76 wherein said digitalstorage arrangement includes a recirculation filter for filtering airwithin said housing and said method includes the step of configuring theresilient support arrangement proximate to one of said corner regions toinclude a filter configuration for at least partially supporting saidrecirculation filter.
 78. The method of claim 77 including the step offorming the filter configuration to define, at least in part, a filterpassage for directing air through the recirculation filter.
 79. Themethod of claim 76 wherein said peripheral sidewall defines a pluralityof comer regions and wherein said forming step includes the step offixing said resilient support arrangement at each comer region.
 80. Themethod of claim 79 wherein said peripheral sidewall at each cornerregion is configured to define a through opening and the fixing stepincludes the step of injection molding the resilient support arrangementinto the through opening of each comer region such that one portion ofthe resilient support arrangement is within the peripheral sidewall andanother portion of the resilient support arrangement extends outwardlytherefrom for connection to the host device.
 81. The method of claim 80wherein said portion of the resilient support arrangement within theperipheral sidewall extends therefrom to form a bumper configurationthat moves with the housing such that the bumper configuration comesinto contact with the host device prior to direct contact between thehousing and the host device with movement of the housing relative to thehost device.
 82. The method of claim 81 wherein said bumperconfiguration is formed to define at least one bumper which extendsoutwardly with respect to a plane that is at least generally coincidentwith one of said major sides for contacting the host device prior todirect contact between the housing and the host device.
 83. The methodof claim 81 wherein said bumper configuration is formed to define atleast one bumper which extends outwardly through said peripheralsidewall for contacting the host device prior to direct contact betweenthe housing and the host device.
 84. The method of claim 80 wherein saidportion of the resilient support arrangement within the peripheralsidewall is formed to extend therefrom in a bumper configuration thatmoves with the housing such that the bumper configuration comes intocontact with the host device prior to direct contact between the housingand the host device when the housing moves having a sufficient componentof movement normal to said opposing major sides.
 85. The method of claim84 wherein said generally opposing major sides are configured to definea thickness therebetween and are at least approximately contained withina pair of parallel planes and said bumper configuration is formed toinclude a length that is generally normal to said parallel planes andgreater than said thickness so as to project outwardly beyond each ofthe parallel planes.
 86. The method of claim 73 including the step ofconfiguring the housing to include a pair of at least generally opposingmajor sides and a peripheral sidewall extending between said pair ofopposing major sides and said forming step includes the step ofextending the resilient support arrangement from said peripheralsidewall to include at least one support member extending between theperipheral sidewall and the host device such that movement of thedigital storage arrangement relative to the host device places dynamicmechanical stress on said support member.
 87. The method of claim 73including the step of configuring the housing to include a pair of atleast generally opposing major sides and a peripheral sidewall extendingbetween said pair of opposing major sides and having a plurality ofcorner regions and said forming step includes the step of extending theresilient support arrangement from said peripheral sidewall at eachcomer region using one of a plurality of support members, one of whichsupport members extends between each comer region and the host device,such that the housing is supported, in the absence of said mechanicalshock, having each of said support members under stress.
 88. The methodof claim 87 including the step of arranging said support members suchthat movement of the digital storage arrangement relative to the hostdevice periodically places dynamic mechanical stress on said supportmembers in a way which attenuates the movement.
 89. The method of claim88 wherein said support members and said movement margin arecooperatively configured for providing an approximately equal amount ofattenuation about three orthogonal axes of rotation.
 90. The method ofclaim 88 including the step of forming said support members to provide acontrolled response for each one of six degrees of freedom.
 91. Themethod of claim 73 wherein said housing is arranged in said storagedevice cavity such that the movement margin serves, at least in part, tolimit a thermal transfer rate between the host device and the housing.92. The method of claim 73 wherein said resilient support arrangement isformed to include at least one integrally formed resilient arm extendingoutwardly from said housing having a distal end configuration defining apair of opposing contact points for supportingly engaging said hostdevice.
 93. The method of claim 92 including the step of arranging saiddistal end configuration for capture by the host device in a way whichbiases the pair of opposing contact points towards one another.
 94. Themethod of claim 93 wherein said distal end configuration is arranged toinclude a support column having a pair of opposing ends, each of whichdefines one of said contact points.
 95. The method of claim 94 whereinsaid housing is configured to define a pair of at least generallyopposing major sides and said support column is formed to define anelongation axis that is at least generally normal to the opposing majorsides prior to capture of the support column by the host device.
 96. Themethod of claim 73 wherein said resilient support arrangement is formedto include at least one integrally formed resilient arm extendingoutwardly from said housing and a distal end configuration forsupportingly engaging said host device and said resilient arm isarranged including a bumper configuration proximate to said housing thatmoves with the housing and relative to the host device such that thebumper configuration comes into contact with the host device prior todirect contact between the housing and the host device when the housingmoves having a sufficient component of movement along a selecteddirection.
 97. The method of claim 96 wherein said housing is formed todefine a pair of at least generally opposing major sides and said bumperconfiguration is configured to come into contact with the host devicewhen the sufficient component of movement is normal to said opposingmajor sides.
 98. The method of claim 96 wherein said housing isconfigured including a housing outline which defines a pair of at leastgenerally opposing major sides having a thickness therebetween and whichare at least approximately contained within a pair of parallel planesand said bumper configuration is formed including a length that isgenerally normal to said parallel planes and greater than said thicknessso as to project outwardly beyond each of the parallel planes.
 99. Themethod of claim 98 wherein said bumper configuration is formed toinclude a pair of bumper columns arranged along a side margin of saidsupport arm and to define said length normal to the opposing planes.100. The method of claim 73 wherein said housing is providing includinga base portion and a cover portion having a latching arrangement thatforms part of the cover portion and part of the base portion forattaching the cover portion to the base portion.
 101. The method ofclaim 100 wherein said cover portion is formed to include a plurality oflatching arms that are moveable at least from an unlatched position to alatched position, as one part of said latching arrangement, and saidbase portion is formed to define a plurality of latching recesses, asanother part of said latching arrangement, such that the latching armsin said unlatched position are alignable with the latching recesses uponplacing the cover portion on the base portion and said latching arms arethen moveable to the latched position to attach the cover portion ontothe base portion.
 102. The method of claim 101 including the steps offorming said cover portion from a sheet material and stamping saidlatching arms as an integral portion of said sheet material.
 103. Themethod of claim 73 wherein said housing is formed to include a baseportion and a cover portion that are attachable with one another andsaid resilient support arrangement is formed as an integral portion of aresilient arrangement further formed with a gasket portion, that isintegrally formed therewith, to seal attached ones of the cover portionand the base portion to one another for sealing the digital storagemeans within the housing.
 104. The method of claim 103 including thestep of fixedly positioning said gasket portion in one of the baseportion and the cover portion and forming said gasket portion to includea sealing configuration for engaging the other one of the base portionand the cover portion and said gasket portion is further formed todefine a biasing configuration, separate from said sealingconfiguration, for resiliently biasing attached ones of the cover andbase portion away from one another.
 105. The method of claim 104including the step of molding said gasket into position in said coverportion.
 106. The method of claim 104 including the steps of attachingthe gasket portion to the cover portion and forming a plurality ofbiasing pedestals, as part of said biasing configuration, which arearranged to contact the base portion to resiliently bias the base andcover portions away from one another in a controlled way.
 107. Themethod of claim 103 wherein said cover portion formed to include a firstpanel defining a first major side of the cover portion and including thestep of attaching said gasket portion at least partially to an innersurface of said first major side.
 108. The method of claim 107 includingthe steps of forming said cover portion to include a peripheral sidewallextending outwardly from said first major side and attaching said gasketportion at least partially to an inner area of said peripheral sidewall.109. The method of claim 94 wherein said cover portion is formed toinclude a first panel defining a first major area and having a peripheryand to further include a sidewall extending transversely from saidperiphery in a way which cooperates with the first panel to define aperipheral comer region and including the step of fixedly disposing saidgasket portion, at least in part, in said comer region.
 110. The methodof claim 109 including the step of molding said gasket portion into theperipheral comer region.
 111. The method of claim 109 including the stepof arranging said base portion to include a peripheral sealing rim thatis configured to engage the gasket portion to seal the digital storagemeans within said housing.
 112. The method of claim 103 including thesteps of defining a plurality of through-holes in said cover portionholes and molding said resilient arrangement into said through-holes toserve, at least in part, to positionally retain the gasket portion andthe resilient support arrangement.
 113. The method of claim 112 whereinsaid cover portion is formed to include a first panel defining a majorsurface of the cover portion and to define said through-holes.
 114. Themethod of claim 112 wherein said cover portion is formed from a sheetmaterial which defines said through-holes and which includes an outersurface and the molding step extends said resilient arrangement througheach through-hole outwardly from said outer surface to form a resilientbumper outward of each through-hole as one of a plurality of resilientbumpers.
 115. The method of claim 114 wherein said cover portion isconfigured to include a major panel and a peripheral sidewall attachedat a periphery of the major panel and including the step of forming atleast one group of said plurality of resilient bumpers to extendoutwardly from said major panel.
 116. The method of claim 115 wherein atleast another group of said plurality of resilient bumpers is formed toextend outwardly from said peripheral sidewall.
 117. The method of claim114 wherein the step of forming said plurality of resilient bumpersforms a bumper configuration for initially contacting the host device ata periphery of the movement margin.
 118. The method of claim 73 whereinsaid digital storage means may be subjected to a given vibration throughthe host device and including the step of configuring said resilientsupport arrangement for damping the given vibration.
 119. The method ofclaim 112 including the steps of forming said cover portion from a sheetmaterial to define said through-holes and having an outer surface andextending said resilient arrangement through each through-hole outwardlyfrom said outer surface to form a resilient bumper which extendscontinuously between at least two of said through-holes.
 120. The methodof claim 119 wherein said cover portion includes a periphery and thestep of extending the resilient arrangement includes the step of formingsaid resilient bumper continuously about the periphery of the coverportion.
 121. The method of claim 119 including the steps of formingsaid cover portion including a peripheral comer region and the step ofextending the resilient arrangement includes the step of forming saidresilient bumper continuously about the peripheral comer region. 122.The method of claim 121 wherein the cover portion is formed so that saidperipheral comer region includes a beveled surface formed between amajor side of the cover portion and a surrounding, peripheral sidewalland said forming step forms said resilient bumper on the beveled surfaceand within a cover outline that is defined by extension of theperipheral sidewall and the major side in said peripheral comer region.123. A digital storage arrangement electrically interfaceable with ahost device, said host device defining a storage device cavity, saiddigital storage arrangement comprising: a housing receivable in thestorage device cavity in a way which provides a movement margin betweenthe housing and the host device; digital storage means supported withinsaid housing and being susceptible to a given mechanical shock at leastto a limited extent; a flexible electrical interconnection arrangementelectrically interfacing the digital storage means to the host device;and a support arrangement connected to said host device and to saidhousing and extending therebetween to support the housing in a way whichprovides for a controlled response with movement of the housing relativeto the host device in six degrees of freedom responsive to the givenmechanical shock.
 124. The digital storage arrangement of claim 123wherein said support arrangement is configured for constraining movementof the housing in so as to avoid contact with the host device for thegiven force.
 125. An electronic assembly comprising: a digital storagearrangement including a housing and digital storage means, susceptibleto a given mechanical shock at least to a limited extent, supportedwithin said housing; a host device electrically interfaceable with saiddigital storage arrangement, said host device defining a storage devicecavity for receiving the digital storage arrangement; a flexibleelectrical interconnection arrangement providing electricalcommunication between the digital storage means and the host device; anda resilient support arrangement connected to said host device and tosaid housing and extending therebetween to support the housing withinthe storage device cavity in a way which subjects the digital storagearrangement and, in turn, the digital storage means to a lesser degreeof mechanical shock when the host device receives said given mechanicalshock.
 126. The assembly of claim 125 wherein said electricalinterconnection arrangement is configured at least for maintainingelectrical communication between the digital storage arrangement and thehost device prior to and at a time following receipt of said givenmechanical shock by the host device.
 127. The assembly of claim 126wherein said electrical interconnection arrangement is configured so asto substantially reduce contribution to the lesser degree of mechanicalshock received by the digital storage arrangement.
 128. The assembly ofclaim 125 wherein said digital storage means is electromechanical. 129.The assembly of claim 128 wherein said digital storage means includes arotatable media and a head arrangement configured at least for readingthe rotatable media.
 130. The assembly of claim 125 wherein saidresilient support arrangement includes a resilient material having ashock attenuation property extending through said movement margin. 131.The assembly of claim 130 wherein said resilient material is a lowmodulus material.
 132. The assembly of claim 125 wherein said housingincludes a pair of at least generally opposing major sides and aperipheral sidewall extending between said opposing major sides andwherein said resilient support arrangement extends from said peripheralsidewall.
 133. The assembly of claim 132 wherein said peripheralsidewall defines a plurality of comer regions and wherein said resilientsupport arrangement provides support by extending from each comer regionto the host device.
 134. The assembly of claim 133 wherein saidperipheral sidewall at each comer region defines a through opening andsaid resilient support arrangement includes at least one portion withinthe peripheral sidewall and another portion which extends outwardlytherefrom through said through opening to the host device.
 135. Theassembly of claim 134 wherein said portion of the resilient supportarrangement within the peripheral sidewall forms a bumper configurationthat moves with the housing such that the bumper configuration comesinto contact with the host device prior to direct contact between thehousing and the host device with movement of the housing relative to thehost device.
 136. The assembly of claim 135 wherein said housing definesa pair of at least generally opposing major sides and said bumperconfiguration defines at least one bumper which extends outwardly withrespect to a plane that is at least generally coincident with one ofsaid major sides for contacting the host device prior to direct contactbetween the housing and the host device.
 137. The assembly of claim 135wherein said housing defines a pair of at least generally opposing majorsides and a sidewall extending therebetween and said bumperconfiguration defines at least one bumper which extends outwardlythrough said sidewall for contacting the host device prior to directcontact between the housing and the host device.
 138. The assembly ofclaim 132 wherein said resilient support arrangement includes at leastone resilient support arm extending between the peripheral sidewall andthe host device such that movement of the digital storage arrangementrelative to the host device places dynamic mechanical stress on saidresilient support arm.
 139. The assembly of claim 132 wherein saidperipheral sidewall defines a plurality of comer regions and saidresilient support arrangement supports the corner regions using aplurality of support members, one of which support members extendsbetween each comer region and the host device such that the housing issupported, in the absence of said mechanical shock, having each of saidsupport members under stress.
 140. The assembly of claim 139 whereinsaid support members are arranged such that movement of the digitalstorage arrangement relative to the host device places dynamicmechanical stress on said support members in a way which attenuates themovement.
 141. The assembly of claim 140 wherein said support membersand said movement margin are cooperatively configured for permittingmechanically induced movement of the housing relative to the host devicein six degrees of freedom to provide a controlled response for each oneof the six degrees of freedom.
 142. The assembly of claim 140 whereinsaid support members are cooperatively configured for providing anapproximately equal amount of attenuation about three orthogonal axes ofrotation.
 143. The assembly of claim 125 wherein said housing isarranged in said storage device cavity to provide thermal isolationbetween the host device and the digital storage arrangement.
 144. Theassembly of claim 125 wherein said resilient support arrangementincludes at least one integrally formed resilient arm extendingoutwardly from said housing and having a distal end configurationdefining a pair of opposing contact points for supportingly engagingsaid host device.
 145. The assembly of claim 144 wherein said distal endconfiguration is configured for capture by the host device in a waywhich biases the pair of opposing contact points towards one another.146. The assembly of claim 145 wherein said distal end configurationincludes a support column having a pair of opposing ends, each of whichdefines one of said contact points.
 147. The assembly of claim 125wherein said resilient support arrangement includes at least oneintegrally formed resilient arm extending outwardly from said housingand having a distal end configuration for supportingly engaging saidhost device and said resilient arm includes a bumper configurationproximate to said housing that is configured to move with the housingand relative to the host device such that the bumper configuration comesinto contact with the host device prior to direct contact between thehousing and the host device when the housing moves having a sufficientcomponent of movement along a selected direction.
 148. The assembly ofclaim 147 wherein said housing includes a housing outline which definesa pair of at least generally opposing major sides having a thicknesstherebetween and which are at least approximately contained within apair of parallel planes and said bumper configuration includes a lengthgenerally normal to said parallel planes and greater than said thicknessso as to project outwardly beyond each of the parallel planes.
 149. Theassembly of claim 148 wherein said bumper configuration includes a pairof bumper columns arranged along a side margin of said support arm anddefining said length normal to the opposing planes.
 150. The assembly ofclaim 125 wherein said housing includes a base portion and a coverportion that are attachable with one another using a latchingarrangement that forms part of the cover portion and part of the baseportion.
 151. The assembly of claim 150 wherein said cover portionincludes a plurality of latching arms that are moveable at least from anunlatched position to a latched position, as one part of said latchingarrangement, and said base portion defines a plurality of latchingrecesses, as another part of said latching arrangement, such that thelatching arms in said unlatched position are alignable with the latchingrecesses upon placing the cover portion on the base portion and saidlatching arms are then moveable to the latched position to attach thecover portion onto the base portion.
 152. The assembly of claim 151wherein said cover portion is formed from a sheet material and saidlatching arms are stamped as an integral portion of said sheet material.153. The assembly of claim 125 wherein said housing includes a baseportion and a cover portion that are attachable with one another andsaid resilient support arrangement is an integrally formed portion of aresilient arrangement further including a gasket portion that isintegrally formed therewith to seal attached ones of the cover portionand the base portion to one another for sealing the digital storagemeans within the housing.
 154. The assembly of claim 153 wherein saidgasket portion is fixedly positioned in one of the base portion and thecover portion and said gasket portion includes a sealing configurationfor engaging the other one of the base portion and the cover portion andsaid gasket portion further defines a biasing configuration, separatefrom said sealing configuration, for resiliently biasing attached onesof the cover and base portion away from one another.
 155. The assemblyof claim 154 wherein said gasket portion is molded into position in saidcover portion.
 156. The assembly of claim 154 wherein said gasketportion is attached to the cover portion and said biasing configurationincludes a plurality of biasing pedestals which contact the base portionto resiliently bias the base and cover portions away from one another ina controlled way.
 157. The assembly of claim 153 wherein said coverportion includes a first panel defining a first major side of the coverportion and said gasket portion is attached at least partially to aninner surface of said first major side.
 158. The assembly of claim 157wherein said cover portion includes a peripheral sidewall extendingoutwardly from said first major side and said gasket portion is attachedat least partially to an inner area of said peripheral sidewall. 159.The assembly of claim 153 wherein said cover portion includes a firstpanel defining a first major area and having a periphery and furtherincludes a sidewall extending transversely from said periphery in a waywhich cooperates with the first panel to define a peripheral comerregion and said gasket portion is fixedly disposed, at least in part, insaid corner region.
 160. The assembly of claim 159 wherein said gasketportion is molded into the peripheral corner region.
 161. The assemblyof claim 159 wherein said base portion includes a peripheral sealing rimthat is configured to engage the gasket portion to seal the digitalstorage means within said housing.
 162. The assembly of claim 153wherein said cover portion defines a plurality of through-holes intowhich said resilient arrangement is molded to serve, at least in part,to positionally retain the gasket portion and the resilient supportarrangement.
 163. The assembly of claim 162 wherein said cover portionincludes a first panel defining a major surface of the cover portion andwhich defines said through-holes.
 164. The assembly of claim 162 whereinsaid cover portion is formed from a sheet material which defines saidthrough-holes and which includes an outer surface and said resilientarrangement extends through each through-hole outwardly from said outersurface to form a resilient bumper outward of each through-hole as oneof a plurality of resilient bumpers.
 165. The assembly of claim 164wherein said cover portion includes a major panel and a peripheralsidewall attached at a periphery of the major panel and wherein at leastone group of said plurality of resilient bumpers is formed to extendoutwardly from said major panel.
 166. The assembly of claim 165 whereinat least another group of said plurality of resilient bumpers extendsoutwardly from said peripheral sidewall.
 167. The assembly of claim 164wherein said plurality of resilient bumpers forms a bumper configurationfor initially contacting the host device at a periphery of the movementmargin.
 168. The assembly of claim 125 wherein said digital storagearrangement may be subjected to a given vibration through the hostdevice and wherein said resilient support arrangement is configured fordamping the given vibration.
 169. A digital storage configuration,comprising: a housing including a cover portion and a base portionconfigured for cooperatively defining a housing cavity; digital storagemeans supported within said housing cavity; a recirculation filter forfiltering air within the housing cavity; and an arrangement that isintegrally formed from a resilient material (i) for sealing the coverportion against the base portion and (ii) for at least partiallysupporting said recirculation filter within the housing cavity.
 170. Thedigital storage configuration of claim 169 wherein said arrangementfurther defines, at least partially, a filter passage for directing airthrough the recirculation filter.
 171. The digital storage configurationof claim 169 wherein said cover portion includes a sealing periphery andsaid base portion defines a peripheral sealing lip and said arrangementis configured to cooperate with the sealing periphery and the peripheralsealing lip in a way which seals the cover portion to the base portionand said arrangement is supported by one of the base portion and coverportion such that attaching the cover portion to the base portioncaptures the recirculation filter between the cover portion and the baseportion.
 172. In producing a digital storage configuration, a methodcomprising the steps of: configuring a housing including a cover portionand a base portion for cooperatively defining a housing cavity;supporting digital storage means within said housing cavity; providing arecirculation filter for filtering air within the housing cavity; usinga resilient material, integrally forming an arrangement (i) for sealingthe cover portion against the base portion and (ii) for at leastpartially supporting said recirculation filter within the housingcavity.
 173. The method of claim 172 wherein the step of forming saidarrangement includes the step of defining, at least partially, a filterpassage for directing air through the recirculation filter.
 174. Themethod of claim 172 wherein said cover portion includes a sealingperiphery and said base portion defines a peripheral sealing lip andsaid method includes the steps of supporting said arrangement using oneof the base portion and cover portion, configuring said arrangement tocooperate with the sealing periphery and the peripheral sealing lip toseal attached ones of the cover portion and the base portion, andattaching the cover portion to the base portion to capture therecirculation filter between said arrangement and the other one of thecover portion and the base portion.
 175. A digital storage arrangementwhich is electrically interfaceable with a host device, said digitalstorage arrangement comprising: digital storage means susceptible to amechanical shock, at least to a limited extent; a base arrangementsupporting said digital storage means; and a cover arrangement attachedto the base arrangement for housing the digital storage means within acavity that is cooperatively defined by attached ones of the basearrangement and the cover arrangement in a way which permits movement ofthe base arrangement relative to the cover arrangement and said coverarrangement is configured for engagement by said host device such thatthe base arrangement, and digital storage means supported thereby, areat least partially isolated from said mechanical shock received by thehost device by movement of the base arrangement relative to the coverarrangement.
 176. The digital storage arrangement of claim 175 includinga resilient arrangement having a damping portion positioned between thebase arrangement and the cover arrangement such that a sufficient amountof relative movement between the base arrangement and the coverarrangement compresses the damping portion to isolate the basearrangement and digital storage means supported thereby from themechanical shock.
 177. The digital storage arrangement of claim 176wherein said cover portion includes a peripheral sidewall defining aplurality of cover comers and the base arrangement defines a pluralityof base comers corresponding to said cover comers such that, when thebase arrangement is attached to the cover arrangement, each base comeris in a spaced-apart relationship with one of the cover comers and saiddamping portion includes a plurality of comer cushions, one of which ispositioned between each spaced-apart base comer and cover comer. 178.The digital storage arrangement of claim 176 wherein said resilientarrangement includes a sealing portion, integrally formed with thedamping portion, for sealing attached ones of the cover arrangement andthe base arrangement to one another.
 179. The digital storagearrangement of claim 176 wherein said resilient arrangement includes anintegrally formed biasing portion for providing a biasing force toresiliently bias attached ones of the cover arrangement and basearrangement away from one another and for serving as part of saiddamping portion at least to limit movement of the cover arrangement andbase arrangement towards one another in a direction that is generallyopposite of said biasing force.
 180. The digital storage arrangement ofclaim 179 wherein said resilient arrangement includes a plurality oflatching arms forming part of said cover arrangement for selectivelyattaching the cover arrangement to the base arrangement in a way whichpermits said relative movement.
 181. In the manufacture of a digitalstorage arrangement which is electrically interfaceable with a hostdevice and which includes digital storage means that is susceptible to amechanical shock, at least to a limited extent, a method comprising thesteps of: supporting said digital storage means using a basearrangement; attaching the base arrangement to a cover arrangement toposition the digital storage means within a cavity that is cooperativelydefined by the attached base arrangement and cover arrangement in a waywhich permits movement of the base arrangement relative to the coverarrangement; and configuring the cover arrangement for engaging saidhost device such that the base arrangement and the digital storage meanssupported thereby are at least partially isolated from said mechanicalshock received by the host device by movement of the base arrangementrelative to the cover arrangement.
 182. The method of claim 181including the step of positioning a damping arrangement between the basearrangement and the cover arrangement such that a sufficient amount ofrelative movement between the base arrangement and the cover arrangementcompresses the damping arrangement to at least partially isolate thebase arrangement and digital storage means supported thereby from themechanical shock.
 183. The method of claim 182 wherein said coverportion includes a peripheral sidewall defining a plurality of covercorners and the base arrangement defines a plurality of base cornerscorresponding to said cover corners such that, when the base arrangementis attached to the cover arrangement, each base comer is in aspaced-apart relationship with one of the cover comers and saidpositioning step places the damping arrangement at least generallybetween each spaced-apart base comer and cover comer.
 184. The method ofclaim 182 including the step of integrally forming a resilientarrangement which includes said damping arrangement and which furtherincludes a sealing portion for sealing attached ones of the coverarrangement and the base arrangement to one another.
 185. The method ofclaim 184 wherein the step of integrally forming said resilientarrangement includes the step of forming a biasing portion for providinga biasing force to resiliently bias attached ones of the coverarrangement and base arrangement away from one another and for servingas part of said damping portion at least to limit movement of the coverarrangement and base arrangement towards one another in a direction thatis generally opposite of said biasing force.
 186. The method of claim185 including the step of forming a plurality of latching arms, as partof said cover arrangement, for selectively attaching the coverarrangement to the base arrangement in a way which permits said relativemovement.